![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/05b175a4-9781-47ba-ad33-403005f8f7ec_1489699438.jpg\")
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\nST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n
WORLD SERIES GUIDE<\/a> | SCHEDULE<\/a> | MERCH <\/a>| WATCH PARTIES<\/a> | TICKETS <\/a>| MEDIA DAY<\/a> | UECKER’S LEGACY<\/a> | POP CULTURE IN 1982<\/a> | VIRAL SONG<\/a> | PAINTING THE FIELD<\/a> | AVOIDING SCAMS<\/a> |<\/p>\n Freddy Peralta spent his first eight major league seasons trying to help the Milwaukee Brewers earn the World Series<\/a> berth that continually eluded them.<\/p>\n Peralta is finally in the Fall Classic. So are the Brewers. Just on opposite sides.<\/p>\n Even in a different uniform, Peralta has received cheers from the Milwaukee crowds as his Tampa Bay Rays try to prevent the Brewers from winning their first World Series title. Peralta will be Tampa Bay\u2019s starting pitcher in Game 3 on Monday in St. Petersburg, Florida. Milwaukee leads the Series 2-0<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a little weird,\u201d Peralta said Saturday. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to focus on what I have to focus because even when I came out yesterday for practice, all the people, all the fans here (were) showing me some love, screaming my name. Also, when I went to the bullpen last night, they were telling me, \u2018We still love you.\u2019 It\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps this strange situation is the most fitting way for Peralta\u2019s roller-coaster season to conclude.<\/p>\n Peralta went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA for the New York Mets before going to Tampa Bay<\/a> at the trade deadline. Just over two months later, he was voted the MVP<\/a> of the AL Championship Series.<\/a><\/p>\n Tampa Bay has won each of Peralta\u2019s last nine starts. He has posted a major league-leading 0.90 ERA during that stretch. Peralta has allowed two runs over 16 2\/3 innings this postseason.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like he\u2019s kind of come back to being Freddy Peralta with us,\u201d Rays manager Kevin Cash said.<\/p>\n Shining with the Rays after struggling with the Mets<\/p>\n Peralta went 70-42 with a 3.59 ERA for the Brewers from 2018-25, making two All-Star teams. He had only one year remaining on his contract when the Brewers traded him<\/a> in January for pitcher Brandon Sproat and infielder Jett Williams.<\/p>\n As the Mets struggled this season, Peralta endured one of the worst stretches of his career. He allowed seven runs over 5 1\/3 innings in an 8-3 loss at Milwaukee<\/a> on July 20 that caused his ERA to rise to 5.01.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew when he faced us (with) the Mets, that wasn\u2019t him,\u201d Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff said. \u201cI could see it visually. I\u2019d seen him throw about every pitch in the big leagues up until this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Peralta was asked Saturday what went wrong<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I ask the same question myself,\u201d Peralta replied. \u201cI don\u2019t try to make excuses and all that. The good thing, I was feeling really good physically. I was trying to give the best of myself as always, and I prepared how I should be preparing. But I don\u2019t know. For some reason, things weren\u2019t going my way.\u201d<\/p>\n Peralta would make one more appearance for the Mets before they sent him to Tampa Bay for a package of prospects including outfielder Aidan Smith, infielder \u00c9milien Pitre and pitcher Gary Gill Hill.<\/p>\n Winning friends in the clubhouse<\/p>\n Cash said he got a call shortly after the trade from San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames, who started his career at Tampa Bay before playing alongside Peralta in Milwaukee from 2021-24.<\/p>\n Adames\u2019 message to Cash was that the Rays were getting one of the best guys in baseball. Sure enough, Peralta made an instant impact in the locker room.<\/p>\n \u201cAn extreme vibes guy,\u201d Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said. \u201cHe\u2019s always smiling. I\u2019ve never seen him not smile. From the time he steps foot in the clubhouse to the time he leaves, he\u2019s always working. He\u2019s on the first bus in and the last bus out.\u201d<\/p>\n The Brewers feel the same way about him. Milwaukee reliever Aaron Ashby called Peralta \u201cone of the best teammates you can have.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a huge part in our organization\u2019s success, and everyone over there in our clubhouse loves that dude,\u201d Ashby said.<\/p>\n Peralta\u2019s turnaround with Tampa Bay wasn\u2019t immediate.<\/p>\n He allowed 17 runs over 21 1\/3 innings in his first four appearances with the Rays as his ERA climbed to 5.11. But he caught fire from there and ended up going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 regular-season starts with Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n Cash credits Peralta for communicating what he needed to do to get better and going out and doing it. As his fastball velocity improved, so did his results.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s in his element, man,\u201d Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. \u201cThat\u2019s \u2018Fastball Freddy.\u2019 Changeup\u2019s been great, a pitch that he really worked on here and got better.\u201d<\/p>\n Peralta wants to give the Rays their first World Series title, even at his former team\u2019s expense. Peralta didn\u2019t pitch in the first two games in Milwaukee because Cash wanted to save him for Tropicana Field, where the right-hander has sparkled in three playoff starts.<\/p>\n \u201cI know how special it is to pitch on this mound here in Milwaukee,\u201d Peralta said. \u201cI would like to pitch here during the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n If the World Series extends to six or seven games, he might get that chance.<\/p>\n October baseball is back in Milwaukee, and WISN 12 News is covering every inning, in the stands and across the community. We’re following the Brewers\u2019 postseason run to the World Series, bringing you the biggest moments, the players driving the story and the traditions that unite fans. From tailgates to watch parties, see how the excitement is playing out across southeast Wisconsin. Follow along on air, at WISN.com<\/a> and on the WISN 12 app.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 WORLD SERIES GUIDE | SCHEDULE | MERCH | WATCH PARTIES | TICKETS | MEDIA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[52344,9893,375184,25699,21297,100054,142338,39905,375185,8263,2325,363,65189,375186,19630,99,974,123393,92570,19632,126266],"class_list":["post-894752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-brewer","tag-brewers","tag-clubhouse-cash","tag-era","tag-freddy-peralta","tag-game-3","tag-innings","tag-kevin-cash","tag-mets-peralta","tag-milwaukee","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-mlb","tag-postseason","tag-roller-coaster-season","tag-run","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-watch-party","tag-wisn","tag-world-series","tag-world-series-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}