Aaron Ashby nears scoreless record as Rays lean on Peralta

Game 1 was tight late, and the Brewers did what they have done all October: they took the single, took the extra run, and handed it to the bullpen.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

JACKSON CHOURIO WITH A HUGE INSURANCE RUN

Then Ashby came in and the 8th inning was over almost before it started. The lefty spent the layoff between the NLCS and the World Series waiting around, and it did not cost him a thing. The slider was nasty, and the Rays swung through it like they had never seen one. Milwaukee hung on to win 3-2.

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

Aaron Ashby's 2Ks in the 8th

By Saturday morning the national guys were digging up the record books. This is the line that started the chase, with the Goose Gossage mark from 1981 listed as the number to beat.

Buster Olney

@Buster_ESPN

Aaron Ashby is putting together arguably the greatest postseason performance by any reliever: 7 games 14 innings 14 strikeouts 0 runs 4 hits 3 walks From Travis Feldhaus of ESPN research: The record for scoreless relief in any postseason was set by Goose Gossage in 1981, when he had 14 1/3 innings, zero runs allowed.

Ashby is not even the closer, which is the wild part. He is the guy Pat Murphy throws at the biggest outs whenever they show up, the 7th, the 8th, the 9th, and that is the point Tim Kurkjian was making before Game 2.

Foul Territory

@FoulTerritoryTV

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a setup guy do what he has done.” @Kurkjian_ESPN explains why Aaron Ashby may be the most important reliever in the World Series.

Game 2 tested all of it. The Rays led by 4, Milwaukee came all the way back to win 5-4, and Ashby got the last 5 outs. He did give up a leadoff double in the 9th, the first real crack anyone had seen, and for a minute Tampa Bay had the tying run 90 feet away.

Talkin' Baseball

@TalkinBaseball_

Rays have life after a double off Aaron Ashby to begin the ninth

He got the next 3 hitters anyway and struck out Yandy Diaz to end it with the tying run stuck at 3rd. That put him at 15 2/3 scoreless innings to open the postseason, past Gossage and Andy Hawkins. Only Andrew Miller's 16 straight in 2016 is longer. It also made Milwaukee the 5th team to win 2 games from 4 runs down in the same postseason, and the Brewers flew to St. Petersburg up 2-0.

Sunday at the Trop was basically a comedy show. Ashby joked that the landing was a little rough, and then he and Brice Turang did a full bit on the dais about the stingray tank in the outfield. Everybody who has watched him pitch this month already knew he was relaxed.

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

Aaron Ashby and Brice Turang are quite entertaining on the dais at The Trop today. Ashby: “They have stingrays in the outfield here?” Turang: “Can you touch them?” Ashby: “I think we should have a brewery.” Turang: “I think we’ve got one, right?”

That brings it to Game 3, and Tom Verducci put it plainly. The Rays have one path and it runs through Freddy Peralta, the ALCS MVP, who came into Monday with a 0.89 ERA since late August and was facing the team he came up with. If Peralta hands a lead to a tired Tampa bullpen, the Brewers get to the 7th with Ashby ready.

Foul Territory

@FoulTerritoryTV

“If Aaron Ashby is in the game, you’re done.” Tom Verducci says Freddy Peralta must pitch deep enough to give the Rays a chance to avoid Milwaukee’s bullpen advantage.

It did not start the way Tampa Bay needed. Peralta needed 22 pitches just to get through the 1st, and he has not reached 100 pitches in a start since the Rays got him. That is a lot of innings left for a bullpen that had 0 strikeouts in its 13 outs on Saturday.

Buster Olney

@Buster_ESPN

Freddy Peralta with 22 pitches in the first inning. He has not thrown 100 pitches in any start since he was traded to the Rays.

So here is what to watch. If the Rays' starter runs out of pitches early, Murphy gets to pick his spot, and the next time Ashby gets an out he ties Miller. Another one after that and the record is his. The Rays can survive a lot in this series, but they cannot keep losing the late innings to a setup man nobody can score on.