How does Ras top his last gem? 13 K's to finish off a sweep of Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG -- The last time Drew Rasmussen took the mound, he held the Marlins to just one baserunner and struck out nine over seven scoreless innings. He was arguably as good as he’s ever been in a Major League uniform.

How could he possibly build on that nearly perfect performance? How about a strong candidate for the most dominant start of his career?

Rasmussen racked up a career-high 13 strikeouts while cruising through seven scoreless innings in the Rays’ 7-5 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

“I think today was just a day where stuff and execution matched up really well,” Rasmussen said.

The right-hander’s gem capped a brief trip home where everything lined up really well for the Rays. Their MLB-leading seventh sweep of the season gave them wins in each of their first 12 home games against divisional opponents, making them only the fifth team to do so since divisions were established in 1969 and the first since the 2009 Dodgers.

Following a 3-10 stretch that erased their sizable lead in the American League East, sweeping the Red Sox improved the Rays’ record to 40-25 and got them back on track as they headed west for a weeklong trip to Southern California.

“I'm happy about it. I know the guys are excited,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We needed to kind of feel a little bit better about ourselves [after] the last 10-11 games, and I think this series probably did that.”

They have every reason to feel good about Rasmussen, one of baseball’s most underrated and consistently effective starters, after he became the fifth pitcher in franchise history to work at least seven scoreless innings while striking out 13 or more.

For all he did well, Rasmussen said he was most proud of his pitch count: 97.

“Staying under 100 pitches, I think, is pretty cool for the swing-and-miss that we were able to achieve,” he said.

Rasmussen was untouchable from the start, striking out each of the first four batters he faced. Leaning mostly on his three fastballs, specifically his four-seamer and cutter in the early going, he faced the minimum 12 batters and struck out eight while throwing only 44 pitches in his first four innings. By that point, he had generated 14 swinging strikes, matching his season-high mark.

Rasmussen finished the day with 20 whiffs overall, tied for the second most in his career behind the 22 he produced against the Yankees on Sept. 9, 2022. He allowed only four baserunners on Wednesday: two singles, a walk and a hit batter.

“He was unbelievable. He had everything working,” catcher Nick Fortes said. “And he got ahead, which has kind of been an emphasis for us for his past two starts. He's done a really good job getting back into the zone and putting himself in a good spot to be able to put guys away later in counts.”

He finished two strikeouts shy of matching the franchise record of 15 set by James Shields (Oct. 2, 2012) and matched by Chris Archer (June 2, 2015). It was the Rays’ first 13-strikeout performance since Tyler Glasnow fanned 14 in six innings against the Red Sox on Sept. 6, 2023.

Rasmussen consistently located his four-seam fastball at the top of the zone or above it, and he effectively jammed lefties with his cutter and righties with his sinker. He incorporated his sinker and changeup more often as the game went on, and he wound up finishing strikeouts with four types of pitches: his four-seamer (five), cutter (five), sinker (two) and changeup (one).

"It's a blast,” Fortes said. “You can sit back there and kind of, like, get creative, because you know that he's going to execute and he can do a lot of different things with the baseball.”

Rasmussen was especially dominant against the top of the reeling Red Sox order, as Boston’s first three hitters -- Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu -- went a combined 0-for-9 with nine strikeouts against him. They became the first trio of starters in the top three spots in a batting order to each strike out in their first three plate appearances since at least 1900, per Elias.

“I think he just executed his pitches. I’m not taking anything from him,” Rafaela said. “It wasn’t a really good day for us.”

Tampa Bay’s bullpen survived a late push by Boston thanks to Cedric Mullins’ two-run homer in the eighth. But the Rays gave Rasmussen a five-run lead due in large part to his batterymate, Fortes, who had a career-high-tying four hits, including two doubles, and scored three runs.

“You never really expect days like this,” Fortes said. “You just put the work in, and hopefully it all pays off.”