ST. PETERSBURG — Freddy Peralta left his Tropicana Field debut with a lead.
The rotation-bolstering trade deadline acquisition allowed three walks and only one hit in 4.2 innings of work, enlisting the help of his Rays teammates and Tropicana Field’s deep left-centerfield along the way, too.
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But after Peralta walked two batters in the fifth, Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to the bullpen, and the game took a drastic turn for the worse, as a woeful relief pitching performance gave the Orioles a 10-2 win and the Rays their third consecutive loss.
Of the first 13 hitters faced by the Rays bullpen, 10 reached base, seven with hits and three on walks.
Needing only one out to escape the inning, Garrett Cleavinger allowed an RBI single to Jackson Holliday and then a double to Alonso to give Baltimore a 3-1 lead.
Steven Matz struggled next. Inserted to handle the sixth inning, Matz allowed a two-run home run to Colton Cowser, who also homered Friday night. Matz, who recently had found a rhythm working out of a bullpen after losing his spot in the rotation, then allowed a two-run double to Holliday before being replaced by Joe Boyle.
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Boyle, freshly called up from Triple-A Durham, allowed a three-run double to make the score 10-1 and then adopted the role of sacrificial bullpen lamb for the remaining innings.
Lost in the rubble of the bullpen’s implosion was an impressive performance from Ryan Vilade, who continues to be a revelation in his first year as a Ray.
Gunnar Henderson looked to have roped an RBI double in the first, but Vilade robbed him with a running catch. After crashing into the rightfield wall, Vilade rapidly recovered and threw to first to complete an inning-ending double play; Tampa native Pete Alonso had dashed down the basepath, so Vilade had him dead to rights.
Then, in the fourth, Vilade hit a 441-foot homer to give Peralta a lead to work with. He added two more hits, a single in the first and a double in the sixth.
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