ST. PETERSBURG -- Sitting behind a table inside a mostly quiet Tropicana Field on Friday afternoon, Rays ace Drew Rasmussen tried to make it sound simple. The complex science and mysterious art that is pitching in the Major Leagues, he said, isn’t that complicated.
“I'm a pretty big believer that it comes down to two things,” Rasmussen said. “Preparation and execution.”
Preparation is never a concern with Rasmussen, dubbed “the standard” for all Rays pitchers by pitching coach Kyle Snyder. Execution clearly wasn’t an issue on a historic Saturday night at Tropicana Field, either.
Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and put together a complete masterpiece on the mound in Game 1 of the American League Division Series, blanking the Yankees in the Rays’ 1-0 win before a rowdy, sold-out home crowd of 40,542.
Rasmussen struck out 10, walked only two and retired 15 straight batters before Austin Wells broke up his no-hit bid with a double down the right-field line with two outs in the eighth inning … only to be thrown out at third base on a perfect relay from Victor Mesa Jr. to shortstop Taylor Walls.
The Rays’ first playoff victory since Game 1 of the 2021 ALDS gave them a significant advantage in this series. In all best-of-five postseason series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 116 of 160 times (73%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams taking a 1-0 lead at home have gone on to win 42 of 56 times (75%).