Rasmussen nearly perfect vs. Yankees as Rays take ALDS Game 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There was a point early in Game 1 of the American League Division Series when Drew Rasmussen and Liam Hicks, the Tampa Bay Rays‘ battery for their intradivison clash against the New York Yankees, had a conversation in the dugout.

The Yankees didn’t have a hit yet, but Rasmussen had issued two walks through the first three innings. He was falling behind in counts. Rasmussen’s stuff was nasty, but they figured it was only a matter of time before New York’s lineup, still dangerous even without Aaron Judge for another series, would capitalize. He needed to trust his stuff and pound the strike zone.

“Credit to him,” Hicks said. “He did make that adjustment as the game went on.”

What followed was unadulterated dominance — and not another free pass — in the Rays’ 1-0 win inside a raucous Tropicana Field that hosted its first playoff game since Hurricane Milton ripped its roof to shreds two years ago. The club was forced to play its home games in 2025 at the Yankees’ spring training complex across the bay in Tampa.

The anticipation for Game 1 produced a rare home sellout crowd, and Rasmussen put on a show, holding the Yankees to one hit and two walks over eight scoreless innings in his first postseason start since 2022. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth frame until Austin Wells slashed a two-out line drive that touched chalk down the right-field line — only for the Yankees catcher to get thrown out at third base after unwisely attempting to stretch an easy double into a triple for the third out.

The right-hander set a postseason franchise record with 10 strikeouts and compiled a career-high 23 swing-and-misses. For the second time in less than two weeks, his career-long dominance against the Yankees continued.

“He threw the s— out of it,” Rays starter and fellow All-Star Nick Martinez said. “He’s the guy we rely on, man, and he showed why we rely on him.”

Rasmussen, 31, entered the night with a 1.81 ERA in 11 career outings (10 starts) against the Yankees — the lowest mark against New York in the past 100 seasons. His most recent start against the Yankees before Saturday was a pristine outing in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 22 when he held them to one hit and one run over 6⅔ innings — and had a no-hitter into the seventh. That victory clinched the division for the Rays at Yankee Stadium in Rasmussen’s final regular-season start.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone countered him Saturday by populating his lineup with eight left-handed hitters — tying the postseason record for most lefties New York set in Game 2 of the wild-card round against the Boston Red Sox. The strategy didn’t matter.

“I think my heart rate was a hair higher tonight than it was [the last time],” Rasmussen said. “I don’t think I called a single pitch of my own. I just tried my best to execute, in all honesty, whatever pitch Liam called.”

Rasmussen overwhelmed hitters with his three fastball variants — cutter, four-seam and sinker — and a changeup he threw more than twice as usual. Rasmussen used his changeup 13% of the time during the regular season — less than all three of his fastballs. On Saturday, that usage climbed to 27% of his 101 pitches. Four of his 10 strikeouts came via that pitch, which dives away from left-handed hitters. He only threw the cutter more.

“There’s some days where it’s really working, some days where it’s not working as well,” Hicks said. “But today was one of those where it’s really working. You could see some of the swing-and-misses. So, it’s like, ‘We got to keep calling this.'”

On the other side, Yankees starter Gerrit Cole allowed one run over five innings in his first postseason start since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. The lone run came on a solo homer from Jonathan Aranda, who hooked a changeup on the outer edge of the plate over the right-field wall.

At that point, Rasmussen went on cruise control, retiring 15 consecutive batters between Ben Rice‘s two-out walk in the third inning and Wells’ double — and baserunning blunder — in the eighth.

“Just obviously not a good decision there,” Boone said of Wells getting thrown out. “Not sure if he saw something on his way between first and second that caused him to go there. But, obviously, a mistake there.”

From there, Rays manager Kevin Cash summoned All-Star closer Bryan Baker to snap Tampa Bay’s streak of seven straight postseason losses. Baker encountered a challenge he had never faced pitching at Tropicana Field before: His PitchCom was on max volume, and he still couldn’t hear the pitch call without cupping his ear.

“That was probably the most electric crowd I’ve ever played in front of,” Baker said. “Still kind of digesting it.”

Boone countered Baker by having Giancarlo Stanton, a hero in previous Octobers, pinch hit to lead off the inning in his first game action since April 24. Baker disposed of him with five pitches, striking him out on a 96.3 mph fastball. Five pitches later, he struck out Ben Rice looking at a changeup before Cody Bellinger grounded out to end the game, ensuring Rasmussen’s masterpiece held up and giving the Rays a 1-0 series lead.

“Yes, tonight was special,” Rasmussen said. “Yes, tonight was a good team win. But there’s still a lot of series ahead of us.”

The Yankees will turn to AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler for Game 2 on Monday, while right-hander Freddy Peralta will take the mound for the Rays.