35-year old righty reliever Joel Peralta is filling in for Kyle Farnsworth as the closer now as his elbow is a little tender. Peralta has pitched in 16 games since August 1st and he is 1-0 with 4 saves, a 1.08 ERA and a 0.66 WHIP. He has now pitched in 68 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 3-4 with 5 saves, a 3.06 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Peralta has only given up 43 hits in his first 64 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 59 batters, which is pretty darn impressive. The Rays need Peralta to keep up the good work the last week and a half of this year.

The Tampa Bay Rays are only three games behind the Red Sox for the American League Wild Card. The Rays have a huge edge in the starting rotation over the Red Sox and that could wind up being huge in the last couple of weeks of the 2011 season. Righty James Shields has been the headliner for the Rays so far this year. He has pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 15-10 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Lefty David Price is having a down year record wise but he is pitching well. He has pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 12-12 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Price is the one pitcher that can really take his game to a new level out of the Rays’ starters. Rookie righty Jeremy Hellickson has also suffered from a lack of run support for the Rays. He has pitched in 26 games (all starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 12-10 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Big righty Jeff Niemann has also been pretty solid for the most part this year for the Rays. Niemann has pitched in 21 games (all starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 10-7 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Righty Wade Davis has been pitching his best ball lately for the Rays. He has pitched in 26 games (all starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 10-8 with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. If the Rays catch the Red Sox in the Wild Card Race, the starting pitching is likely going to be the biggest reason for it.

The Tampa Bay Rays have to be happy with 35-year old righty set-up man Joel Peralta. Peralta has pitched in a A.L. leading 63 games (0 starts) so far this year and he is 3-4 with 2 saves, a 3.17 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has only given up 40 hits in his first 59 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 51 batters and only walking 17. The Rays will probably try to re-sign Peralta for the 2012 season, with the idea of him setting up Kyle Farnsworth once again. They make a good team late in games for the Rays.

35-year old righty reliever Kyle Farnsworth decided to sign with the team closest to his home last winter and it has really paid off for him. Farnsworth won the closer’s job in spring training and he has been outstanding ever since. He has pitched in 53 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 5-1 with 22 saves (a new career high), a 1.84 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. He only has given up 34 hits in his first 49 innings this year while whiffing 41 batters and walking only 8…..which is pretty darn impressive. Farnsworth has been even better so far in August. He has pitched in 8 games out of the pen this month and he is 2-0 with 2 saves, a 0.00 ERA and a 0.00 WHIP!

28-year old righty starting pitcher Jeff Niemann has been on fire lately for the Rays. He has started 6 games in July and August and he is 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. The big guy is getting the ball down in the zone with good movement which has led to him being nothing short of awesome lately for the Rays. Niemann has started 14 games overall for the Rays this year and he is 6-4 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. When Niemann follows through with his delivery and keeps the ball down low, he’s a pretty darn good pitcher. When he gets the ball up though, he tends to get hit pretty hard. If the Rays are going to make a big run at the Yankees or Red Sox in the last two months, they are going to need Niemann to keep pitching like he is right now.