Rasmussen flirts with no-hitter as Rays edge Yankees 1-0 in ALDS opener

Drew Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 1-0 in their American League Division Series opener on Saturday. Field Level Media reported that Jonathan Aranda's solo home run provided the scoring in St. Petersburg, giving Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

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Rasmussen finished with eight scoreless innings, one hit allowed and 10 strikeouts. According to Yahoo Sports, that strikeout total matched a Rays postseason record. The right-hander threw 101 pitches, including 69 strikes, and recorded 15 consecutive outs between the third and eighth innings before New York finally found a way to interrupt his no-hit bid.

Austin Wells doubled with two outs in the eighth, but the Yankees immediately lost their only baserunner of the inning. Yahoo Sports reported that right fielder Victor Mesa Jr., shortstop Taylor Walls and third baseman Junior Caminero combined on the relay that retired Wells as he attempted to reach third. The play ended the inning and left Tampa Bay's narrow advantage intact.

Aranda had put the Rays ahead in the third by driving a 2-2 changeup from Gerrit Cole over the right-center-field wall, according to Field Level Media. Cole allowed five hits and one run in five innings. The Yankees' pitching kept the deficit at a single run, but their hitters could not produce a response to Aranda's decisive swing.

Bryan Baker replaced Rasmussen for the ninth and retired all three batters he faced, striking out two to record his first postseason save. The result was a sharp reversal for New York's offense after its wild-card sweep of Boston: Field Level Media reported that the Yankees had amassed 18 runs and 26 hits across those two wins.

Rasmussen's performance followed a regular season in which he posted a 2.67 ERA and struck out 174 batters over 172 innings, Yahoo Sports reported. He had also recorded a 2.68 ERA in four starts against the Yankees before the playoffs. Game 2 is scheduled for Monday at Tropicana Field, with Tampa Bay holding the series lead.