Sunday, September 13, 2026
Houston Astros at Tampa Bay Rays
HOU
Houston Astros
74-75 · L2
TB
Tampa Bay Rays
89-60 · W2
Tampa Bay Rays beat Houston Astros 14-4 at Tropicana Field. Freddy Peralta earned the win; Hayden Wesneski took the loss.
Tampa Bay crushed Houston 14-4 at Tropicana Field, scoring three in the first and pulling away with a five-homer attack. Freddy Peralta earned the win for the Rays, blanking the Astros over five innings on 86 pitches with four strikeouts and a 4.67 ERA on the ledger. Hayden Wesneski took the loss, managing two strikeouts before the Rays broke the game open. The offense arrived early. Victor Mesa Jr. tripled home two in the bottom of the first, then scored on a Chandler Simpson groundout for a 3-0 lead. Richie Palacios launched a three-run homer in the third after a Mesa Jr. run scored on an error, and the Rays never looked back. Jonathan Aranda went deep twice, solo in the fourth and a two-run shot in the seventh to finish 2-4 with three RBI. Palacios and Nick Fortes each added homers, Fortes plating two in the fifth. Houston scratched three late solo homers from Isaac Paredes, Nick Allen, and Nelson Velázquez, but the margin was already out of reach. Paredes finished 1-3 with two RBI after a sixth-inning two-run blast. The model projected a strong NRFI lean, and the first inning closed scoreless. Wesneski's two strikeouts came in well below projection, while Peralta logged four against his model line.
Jonathan Aranda homered twice and drove in three, finishing 2-4 with a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run blast in the seventh.
Tampa Bay scored three in the first on a Victor Mesa Jr. two-run triple and a Chandler Simpson groundout, then added three more in the third on a Richie Palacios three-run homer.
The model called a strong NRFI lean and the first inning closed scoreless, though Tampa Bay erupted for three in the bottom half.
Freddy Peralta threw five scoreless innings on 86 pitches with four strikeouts, while Hayden Wesneski recorded two strikeouts and allowed the early damage.
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| TB | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | 14 | 15 | 0 |
Scoring Summary
Victor Mesa Jr. triples (3) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Cam Smith. Yandy Díaz scores. Junior Caminero scores.
Chandler Simpson grounds out, pitcher Hayden Wesneski to first baseman Christian Walker. Victor Mesa Jr. scores.
Jonny DeLuca reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Jeremy Peña. Victor Mesa Jr. scores. Chandler Simpson to 3rd.
Richie Palacios homers (10) on a fly ball to right field. Chandler Simpson scores. Jonny DeLuca scores.
Jonathan Aranda homers (20) on a fly ball to left field.
Chandler Simpson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Daulton Varsho. Victor Mesa Jr. scores.
Nick Fortes homers (5) on a fly ball to left field. Nick Madrigal scores.
Isaac Paredes homers (21) on a fly ball to left field. Nick Allen scores.
Yandy Díaz singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Jorge Barrosa. Richie Palacios scores.
Jonathan Aranda homers (21) on a fly ball to right center field. Yandy Díaz scores.
Nick Allen homers (3) on a fly ball to left center field.
Nelson Velázquez homers (6) on a fly ball to left center field.
Key Performers
Jonathan Aranda
TB
2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Richie Palacios
TB
2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Isaac Paredes
HOU
1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
Nick Fortes
TB
1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
Batting
| HOU | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaac Paredes 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Nick Allen SS | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Cam Smith RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Daulton Varsho CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Jose Altuve 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Taylor Trammell LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Jeremy Peña SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - |
| LaMonte Wade Jr. 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Christian Walker 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Jorge Barrosa CF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Yainer Diaz C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Yordan Alvarez DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Nelson Velázquez DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Totals | 31 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| TB | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Madrigal SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Richie Palacios 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Ryan Vilade 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Chandler Simpson LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Jonny DeLuca CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Jonathan Aranda 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Nick Fortes C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Yandy Díaz DH | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Victor Mesa Jr. RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Junior Caminero 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Totals | 40 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 5 |
Pitching
| HOU | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wesneski (L, 5-2) | 3.0 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 62-39 | 3.70 |
| De Los Santos, E | 0.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24-14 | 4.50 |
| Blanco | 4.1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 62-38 | 7.11 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| TB | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peralta, F (W, 9-11) | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 86-49 | 4.67 |
| Hopkins | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 22-14 | 18.00 |
| Sulser | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13-7 | 4.65 |
| Legumina | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 27-12 | 3.93 |
| Matz | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10-6 | 5.64 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 |