Drew Rasmussen gave the Rays six-plus innings of postseason-caliber work Monday night, but one seventh-inning swing changed the temperature inside Tropicana Field and Cleveland rode the late momentum to a 7-3 win in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Rasmussen took a one-run edge into the seventh after holding the Guardians scoreless through five innings. Chase DeLauter’s solo homer in the sixth was the only damage against the Tampa Bay right-hander until Patrick Bailey opened the next inning by driving Rasmussen’s 91st pitch over the center-field wall to tie the game.
It was a costly ending to an otherwise sturdy line. Rasmussen allowed eight hits, struck out seven and gave up only the two solo shots across six-plus innings. The outing also made him the fifth pitcher in Rays history to post quality starts in consecutive postseason appearances, joining James Shields, Matt Garza and Scott Kazmir from the 2008 club and David Price, who did it in 2010-11.
A decision built on trust
Rasmussen had thrown 90 pitches when he returned to the home dugout after the sixth. Tyler Wells and Cam Booser were already loosening in the bullpen, but Rasmussen told manager Kevin Cash he had enough left to continue.
Cash said he was evaluating the inning hitter by hitter and did not intend to let Rasmussen face Cleveland leadoff man Steven Kwan for a fourth time. Bailey, batting seventh, ended that plan immediately.
“Cash checked on me and I said I was good,” Rasmussen said. “It just didn’t go the way we wanted.”
The right-hander said he stayed with his usual attacking approach, working aggressively in the strike zone. He felt the pitch to Bailey caught too much of the plate in an even count, while noting that the decision to challenge a hitter 0-0 was one the club would generally accept.
“It’s frustrating,” Rasmussen said. “We had battled through what felt like a good outing, then it turned that way.”
Cash did not second-guess what Rasmussen had supplied. “He was outstanding,” the manager said. “He threw an incredible game.”
The faith in Rasmussen had recent evidence behind it. He reached 114 pitches in his final regular-season appearance against the Yankees, then threw 101 pitches against New York on Oct. 3. In the Division Series opener, he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Yankees.
Cleveland takes over late
Booser kept the game level through the seventh, but the Rays could not break through against Cleveland’s relief corps. Tampa Bay’s bullpen, meanwhile, could not hold the line in the final two innings.
Wells, working in a game for the first time in a month, gave up two hits in the eighth. Left-hander Ian Seymour then fell behind the key moment when Nathaniel Lowe lined an 0-2 fastball that was up in the zone for a go-ahead two-run single through the middle.
Cole Sulser and Kevin Kelly followed in the ninth, and Cleveland added three more runs to finish off the 7-3 decision.
The loss stopped a franchise-record 13-game Rays winning streak in games started by Rasmussen and gave the Guardians an early edge in the series. It also spoiled Tampa Bay’s first ALCS game at Tropicana Field since Game 7 against Boston in 2008.
Questions will naturally follow the late relief work, particularly after Tampa Bay’s bullpen had extended rest between series and limited use in the ALDS. Cash said the club was not concerned that the time off had left its relievers unprepared.
“They’re ready,” Cash said. “They did what they needed to do during the break to keep their deliveries sharp. Sometimes hits are going to happen. That team puts pressure on pitchers, extends at-bats by fouling off pitches, and they have good hitters.”
