Rays ride Rasmussen, sit alone atop 30-win plateau
NEW YORK — Prior to Thursday’s motion, right-hander Drew Rasmussen had thrown 14 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts throughout his profession in opposition to the Yankees.
He confronted them for the fourth time within the sequence opener, and the outcomes had been the identical. Rasmussen dealt for seven scoreless innings and helped the Rays beat the Yankees, 8-2, at Yankee Stadium.
For the second time in franchise historical past (2010), the Rays are the primary Major League workforce to achieve 30 wins, in line with the Elias Sports Bureau.
“That’s saying something,” stated Rays supervisor Kevin Cash. “You are talking about [30 clubs]. That’s really impressive. We feel like we have a good team. We made things go our way. Other things have gone our way. Very fortunate to be where we are at. I’m proud of the guys.”
The Yankees didn’t have a solution for Rasmussen from the beginning. He retired 14 of the primary 15 hitters he confronted. New York collected solely two hits in opposition to the Rays’ starter and struck out seven instances, three of them coming from Aaron Judge. Even extra spectacular, the Yankees by no means had a runner in scoring place when Rasmussen was on the mound.
“We bought a pair pitches to hit there all through the sport, however you have to tip your cap on a few of these,” Judge stated. “[Rasmussen] made his pitches when he needed to, stored us off stability the entire time he was on the market. We could not actually get something going offensively.
“I do not suppose he walked a single man, so he was pounding the zone however nonetheless working the perimeters as nicely. So you have to tip your cap, however we have got to give you a greater sport plan within the field and execute it.”
Early on within the sport, it was apparent Rasmussen was going to have a fantastic sport. Of the primary 10 hitters he confronted, Rasmussen had 10 first-pitch strikes. His sport plan getting into the competition was to get forward of the hitters.
“It doesn’t always happen. Usually, what we are trying to do is to attack the strike zone, especially early,” Rasmussen stated. “Hitters start to expand with you if you fill it up early. It’s one of those things where if you get on the defensive, you have a chance to create more swing and miss and weak contact. That’s always the game plan.”
Rasmussen appeared shocked he had held the Yankees scoreless for 21 innings throughout his profession. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it trails John Morris’ 22 1/3 inning scoreless streak and Troy Percival’s 21 1/3 inning scoreless streak for the longest such stretch to begin a profession vs. the Yankees within the Expansion Era (since 1961).
“I wouldn’t have guessed it was that many [innings],” Rasmussen stated. “That’s a really good lineup over there. It’s one of those things [where you] attack the strike zone early and often and let the defense make plays. And then when you get to two strikes, you throw a competitive pitch and take it one pitch at a time.”
The Rays hurler discovered himself in a pitcher’s duel with Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán, who allowed one earned run in 5 2/3 innings. The first run for Tampa Bay scored within the fifth inning, as Josh Lowe scored all the way in which from first on a double by Yandy Díaz after reaching base on an error by first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
Germán was already out of the sport when the Rays put the sport out of attain within the sixth inning. The bases had been loaded when Lowe swung at a Ron Marinaccio changeup and cleared the bases with a double to make it a four-run sport.
By the eighth inning, Lowe had additional enhanced one in every of his finest video games of the season when he hit a two-run homer off Ryan Weber, and he completed by driving in 5 of the Rays’ eight runs.
“He had a big day,” Cash stated about Lowe. “He has made huge strides we talked about throughout the season. No different today. … There were some swing adjustments that [he] and [hitting coach] Chad [Mottola] talked about during the offseason. It certainly carried into Spring Training. And then, success. He learned from not performing like he was capable of. It’s tough. He lived it for a long time last year. We are thrilled he is having so much success.”
The Rays scored a mixed three runs of their earlier two video games in opposition to the Orioles — each losses. Tampa Bay was going through a tricky Orioles pitching workers. But Lowe stated there wasn’t any panic within the Rays’ clubhouse getting into Thursday’s sport in opposition to the Yankees.
“We know with the guys we have in this clubhouse … we are going to go out there and put up nights like tonight,” he stated.
