Peralta loses voice while lifting Rays to win

ST. PETERSBURG -- David Peralta contributed plenty on the field in the Rays’ 4-3 win over the Red Sox on Monday at Tropicana Field. You could see all that in the box score, from his first-inning single to his game-winning RBI double in the seventh.

The veteran left fielder apparently contributed just as much to Tampa Bay’s come-from-behind victory in the dugout. You could hear that in his hoarse answers -- as he said he lost his voice at some point between Sunday’s one-run loss to the Yankees and Monday’s one-run triumph over the Red Sox -- and the full-throated endorsements of his teammates.

“He always has to give everyone a little bit of energy, some advice, just to keep everybody up,” outfielder Manuel Margot said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “Everyone feels down sometimes in this game, but he helps you stay positive.”

In other words?

“I never shut up,” Peralta said, smiling.

When Tampa Bay acquired Peralta from Arizona prior to the Trade Deadline, he was immediately energized by the idea of playing meaningful late-season games. So you can understand the 35-year-old’s enthusiasm after the Rays won Monday for the sixth time in their last seven games and the 21st time in 30 games since Aug. 3, his third game with his new team.

Every win matters for the Rays at this point, and Peralta knows it. Their victory, combined with the Mariners’ loss to the White Sox on Monday night, moved Tampa Bay back into a virtual tie with Seattle atop the American League Wild Card standings and kept the Rays five games behind the division-leading Yankees in the AL East.

“The whole game, I was screaming and everything, and that's how I lost my voice,” Peralta said. “But it's worth it. With that win, I'll take it all day.”

Down, 3-1, after three innings, the Rays rallied back to score three unanswered runs and overcome a multi-run deficit for the first time since a 5-3 win over the Tigers on Aug. 5.

They did it with pitching, as Luis Patiño finished a solid start with two scoreless frames before the bullpen shut out the Red Sox for four innings. And they did it without the benefit of the long ball, instead leaning on contact-oriented approaches, speed on the basepaths and, apparently, the relentless positivity of their oldest position player.

“It's easy when you're winning in the game, when you're ahead, to keep everyone going. But when you're losing, that's where you have to keep the same mentality to come back,” Peralta said. “And that's what we did.”

The Rays’ comeback began in the fifth inning, when Jose Siri reached on an infield single and scored on Randy Arozarena’s double to left field off former teammate Michael Wacha. When Wacha exited after six strong innings, Tampa Bay pulled ahead against Boston’s bullpen.

Vidal Bruján was hit in the left elbow by a Jeurys Familia fastball to lead off the seventh, stole second and moved to third on Siri’s groundout to second base. Up came Margot, who lashed the first pitch he saw to right-center for a game-tying double.

“Manny's got a knack for coming up with big hits for us,” manager Kevin Cash said of Margot, who has eight hits in the seventh inning or later this season that have either tied the game or put the Rays ahead.

With two outs and the go-ahead run 90 feet from home, Peralta reached down to lash a low changeup from Zack Kelly down the first-base line for an RBI double, his second go-ahead hit in his last four games and his fourth since joining the Rays.

“My swing wasn't the prettiest one, but it did the job and we got the winning run over there,” Peralta said. “That's what we've been doing since I got here. We battle every at-bat, every inning, and we never give up.”

Peralta’s power hasn’t carried over from his days with the D-backs, as he’s still looking for his first home run in a Rays uniform. But he’s consistently found ways to contribute, primarily by going 10-for-24 with three doubles and nine RBIs with runners in scoring position since he joined Tampa Bay.

“I do think there is an adjustment, and he's right in the process of making that,” Cash said. “But in the meantime, while he's doing that, he's getting big RBI singles for us.”

And bringing some big positive energy, too.

“He's doing a great job, what he does on and off the field,” Margot said through Navarro. “Even when you're on the bench, the things he says, he's a great teammate.”