Drew Rasmussen gave Tampa Bay the kind of October opener that settles a clubhouse fast. The right-hander carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and led the Rays past the Yankees, 1-0, in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Rasmussen worked eight shutout frames, yielding only one hit and striking out 10. The Yankees did not break through until there were two outs in the eighth, leaving him one out short of taking a no-hitter through 7 2/3 innings and beyond.
Quick facts
- Rasmussen allowed one hit over eight scoreless innings in Tampa Bay’s 1-0 Game 1 victory.
- His 10 strikeouts matched Tyler Glasnow’s Rays postseason single-game high, set in 2020 ALDS Game 2 against New York.
- He generated 23 swings and misses, a career best in either the regular season or postseason.
- Rasmussen and closer Bryan Baker held the Yankees to one hit, the lowest total in New York’s 447 postseason games.
- Game 2 is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max.
The lone hit came late, but Rasmussen had already put himself in rare company. He became the seventh pitcher to carry a postseason no-hit effort at least into the 7 2/3-inning mark.
Roy Halladay completed a no-hitter for Philadelphia in the opening game of the 2010 NLDS, while Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series perfect game remains the only one in Fall Classic history. Bill Bevens pushed his bid to two outs in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 1947 World Series.
The other pitchers who reached the same 7 2/3-inning threshold were Aníbal Sánchez in Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS, Jim Lonborg in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series and Red Ruffing in Game 1 of the 1942 World Series.
For Rasmussen, the punchouts carried their own Rays history. His 10 tied Glasnow for the most strikeouts by a Tampa Bay pitcher in a postseason game, and both performances came against the Yankees.
The whiffs were even louder. Rasmussen’s 23 missed swings matched Ryan Pepiot’s Sept. 18, 2024 total for the most by a Rays pitcher since the beginning of the 2024 season, postseason included. It was also five more than any Tampa Bay pitcher had produced in a playoff game.
He is now the eighth pitcher to post a scoreless postseason outing with at least 10 strikeouts while permitting no more than one hit. The group includes Blake Snell in Game 1 of the 2025 NLCS, Trey Yesavage in Game 2 of the 2025 ALDS, Max Scherzer in Game 2 of the 2019 NLCS, Sánchez in Game 1 of the 2013 ALCS, Roger Clemens in Game 4 of the 2000 ALCS, Mike Mussina in Game 6 of the 1997 ALCS and Moe Drabowsky in Game 1 of the 1966 World Series.
Baker finished the job after Rasmussen departed, preserving the one-hit shutout. For a Yankees franchise with more postseason games than any other club, Saturday’s one-hit line was a first: New York had never been held to fewer hits in October.
