Rays’ Liam Hicks talks dominant pairing with Freddy Peralta in ALCS Game 2 vs. Guardians appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the ALCS to even things up against the Cleveland Guardians was created straight out of their battery. Freddy Peralta is drawing plenty of plaudits for throwing six shutout innings and rediscovering his peak self just in time for the postseason, but Tampa Bay would not have taken a comfortable lead in the first place if it weren’t for catcher Liam Hicks.
After the Rays opened up the scoring in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a Guardians error, it was Hicks who came on to the plate and drove in two runs with a single — scoring Chandler Simpson and Ben Williamson to give Tampa Bay a comfortable cushion that they would not relinquish.
After the game, Hicks expressed his thoughts regarding his partnership with Peralta, giving credit to the 30-year-old for working his butt off to pitch at his best when the games matter the most.
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“Credit to him. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve come across in the game. Just so happy for him. The amount of work he puts in, to see it come to fruition out there on the field, it’s awesome,” Hicks told Melanie Newman of MLB Network.
Liam Hicks and Freddy Peralta were both acquired by the Rays at the Trade Deadline in August. Tonight, they led the team to an ALCS Game 2 win 👏
Tampa Bay's catcher joins @MelanieLynneN to talk about his batterymate and more. pic.twitter.com/9JOkcp6Udx
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 14, 2026
For his part, all the Rays catcher thought of during that fateful at-bat in the fourth was to make his moment count — which he did.
“I gotta make it count. Make them pay for that (error). That’s a team that doesn’t really make those types of errors. You got to take advantage of any opportunity you get here,” Hicks added.
Like Peralta, the Rays also acquired Hicks at the trade deadline. Hicks has shown that his solid 2026 campaign with the Marlins was no fluke, as he has carried over his productivity from the NL East club into Tampa Bay. And now, he has a signature postseason moment that he’ll be looking to build off of as Tampa Bay looks to win the AL pennant on their way to their goal of winning a World Series title.
Related: Liam Hicks ‘super grateful’ Rays acquired him at trade deadline
Related: Rays ace Freddy Peralta hits a major career first in ALCS Game 2 start vs. Guardians