Rays 14, Astros 4: Peralta's Five Hitless Innings and a Sweep

Five hitless innings, then the Trop stopped keeping score

September 13, 2026 - St. Petersburg - Freddy Peralta did not allow a hit through five. Jonathan Aranda hit two of Tampa Bay's four homers. Every Rays starter had a hit and a run. The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros 14-4 and swept the series. The Associated Press recap said Tampa Bay became the first American League club to 90 wins.

Dome, 72 degrees. First pitch 1:40 p.m. Attendance 18,718. The game lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes. That is a short afternoon when the home side scores in five of the first seven innings and the visitor does not put a ball in play for a hit until the sixth.

The Rays are 90-59. They have won four straight Peralta starts, the AP recap said, and he has allowed two runs over his last 23 innings. Houston is 75-75.

Mesa's triple, Peña's drop, Palacios's 10th

Hayden Wesneski (5-2) never made it to a clean third. Yandy Díaz and Junior Caminero were on in the first when Victor Mesa Jr. lined a two-run triple to right. Chandler Simpson grounded out, Mesa scoring. 3-0. The Rays had the lead they would never give back.

The third is the inning Houston will replay. Mesa scored when Jonny DeLuca reached on a fielding error by shortstop Jeremy Peña. Simpson went to third. Richie Palacios then hit his 10th homer, a three-run drive to right, Simpson and DeLuca scoring. 7-0. The AP recap called it a two-out pop-up Peña dropped, then a homer that made the error expensive. Wesneski's line: three innings, six hits, seven runs, three earned, two walks, two strikeouts, 62 pitches. Three of those seven runs sat on the error. The other four did not.

Aranda led off the fourth with his 20th, a fly ball to left off Enyel De Los Santos. 8-0. Simpson singled Mesa home later in the inning. 9-0. Nick Fortes hit a two-run shot in the fifth, his fifth, Nick Madrigal scoring. 11-0. Ronel Blanco absorbed Fortes and the rest of a four-inning, five-run outing. Peralta was still on the mound and still had not given up a hit.

Hopkins's debut, then Houston's first ball in play that counted

Peralta (9-11) went five: no hits, no runs, three walks, four strikeouts, 86 pitches. The AP recap said he won his fourth straight start. He walked three and never let any of them become a problem. That is a no-hit bid you take out after five because the game is already 11-0 and the pitch count is 86.

Brody Hopkins replaced him for his major league debut, the AP recap said. He walked Nick Allen on four pitches. Isaac Paredes then hit his 21st, a two-run drive to left. 11-2. Houston's first hit of the afternoon was a homer. It came against a pitcher making his first big-league appearance, not against Peralta.

Tampa Bay added three more in the seventh. Palacios scored on Díaz's single. Aranda hit his 21st, a two-run shot to right-center, Díaz scoring. 14-2. Allen and Nelson Velázquez went back-to-back off Casey Legumina in the eighth, Allen's third and Velázquez's sixth. 14-4. That was Houston's afternoon: four hits, four runs, three of them homers after the game had already left.

Mesa finished 3-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBI, and three runs. Palacios went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Aranda went 2-for-4 with two homers, three RBI, and a walk. Fortes drove in two. Díaz had two hits. Caminero doubled. Every Rays starter, the AP recap said, had at least one hit and scored at least one run. Team RISP: they did not need a perfect night with runners on. They needed the third inning to stay open long enough for Palacios.

A 90-win club, a .500 club, and a series that was over on Friday

Wesneski's ERA sat at 3.70 after the loss. Blanco (0-1) threw 4 1/3 and allowed five earned. Houston left six on and went quietly after the Paredes homer until the eighth. Four hits will not beat 15.

Steven Matz and Cole Sulser each threw a scoreless inning around Legumina. The bullpen's job was to finish a sweep, not to save a lead. Tampa Bay had already done the work in the first five.

Tuesday is Griffin Jax (7-10, 3.99) against the Athletics at the Trop, the AP recap said. Houston goes home to start Hunter Brown (5-3, 3.52) against Kansas City. The Rays are the first AL team to 90. The Astros are .500 in the middle of September. A 14-4 on Sunday made that sentence loud.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Peralta at 18 pitching fantasy points. Aranda led Tampa Bay hitters at 12. Palacios and Mesa had 10 each. Fortes had 8. The Rays finished with 27 team FP, first on a 15-game Sunday. Houston finished at minus-7.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*