Drew Rasmussen held the Yankees to one hit over eight scoreless innings as Tampa Bay won Game 1 of the American League Division Series 1-0.
By the numbers: Rasmussen struck out 10, walked 2 and retired 15 straight batters. He racked up a career-high 23 swinging strikes, the most by a Ray in a postseason game, in front of a sold-out home crowd of 40,542.
- Austin Wells broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out double down the right-field line in the eighth, then was thrown out at third base on a relay from Victor Mesa Jr. to Taylor Walls to Junior Caminero.
The big picture: It was the longest postseason no-hit bid in Rays history and the longest against the Yankees in the playoffs in the Modern Era. It also delivered Tampa Bay its first playoff victory since Game 1 of the 2021 ALDS.
What they're saying: "My heart rate was at a thousand beats per minute," Rasmussen said of the eighth inning. "I was just trying to execute one pitch at a time."
- "If you look it up, the definition of ace, in my opinion, is Drew Rasmussen," first baseman Jonathan Aranda said through an interpreter.
Zoom in: Rasmussen worked a mix of cutters, changeups, four-seam fastballs and two-seamers through 102 pitches. Aranda's third-inning homer off Gerrit Cole supplied the only run, and closer Bryan Baker finished it.
The backstory: Manager Kevin Cash had compared Rasmussen's work ethic to Roy Halladay, author of the most recent individual no-hitter in postseason history, before a September 22 start in which Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the seventh and clinched the AL East.
Why it matters: Teams that take a 1-0 lead in a best-of-five series have gone on to win it 116 of 160 times, or 73%, and 42 of 56 times when that lead comes at home under the current format. Game 2 is Monday night.
