Freddy Peralta Wins 2026 ALCS MVP for Rays

Freddy Peralta was named the American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player after helping the Tampa Bay Rays finish off the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, October 19. The right-hander earned the win in Tampa Bay’s 7-3 Game 6 clincher at Tropicana Field.

Peralta finished the six-game series 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA across three appearances, including two starts. He allowed one earned run in 12 innings, giving up nine hits and six walks while striking out nine. He did not allow a home run and also recorded a hold.

His first victory came in Game 2, when he pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 Rays win. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out six. In Game 4, he added two scoreless outs in relief as Tampa Bay won 7-3 to tie the series.

Peralta returned to start Game 6 and allowed one run on five hits over 5⅓ innings, with three walks and three strikeouts. His three appearances all came in Tampa Bay victories during the Rays’ 4-2 series win.

The Rays now face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. Game 1 is Friday, October 23, at American Family Field, with the scheduled start at 6 p.m. MDT.

2026 ALCS · Series statistics

Freddy Peralta

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians
Six-game series · October 12–19

ERA

0.75

Innings

12.0

Record

2–0

Strikeouts

Hits

Earned runs

Walks

1.25

WHIP

3 appearances · 2 starts · 1 hold · 0 home runs allowed

His three appearances
Appearance	IP	H	ER	BB	K
Game 2 Oct. 13 · Start · Win	6.0	4	0	2	6
Game 4 Oct. 17 · Relief · Hold	0.2	0	0	1	0
Game 6 Oct. 19 · Start · Win	5.1	5	1	3	3

IP: innings pitched; H: hits; ER: earned runs; BB: walks; K: strikeouts. In baseball, .1 and .2 mean one and two outs. WHIP is walks plus hits per inning.

ALCS only, including all six games. Peralta did not pitch in Games 1, 3 or 5. Source: MLB final box scores for Game 2, Game 4 and Game 6.