Rasmussen's lone blemish comes against Ohtani as brilliant stretch continues

LOS ANGELES -- Rays starter Drew Rasmussen continued arguably the best stretch of his Major League career on Tuesday night, holding the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup to just one run in his third straight seven-inning start.

Shohei Ohtani’s home run in the sixth inning was the only run Rasmussen has allowed this month. But it was enough to beat the Rays, as the worst stretch of their season also continued with a 1-0 defeat at Dodger Stadium.

The Rays managed only three singles and a walk, and advanced just one runner to second base on the night as they lost for the 14th time in the last 21 games, falling 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East with a 41-29 record.

“It's tough, but you have to give credit to their pitchers over there,” manager Kevin Cash said. “You understand why it was kind of a quiet offensive night for both clubs.”

Rasmussen was a big part of that. The right-hander threw a career-high 102 pitches, struck out seven, didn’t walk a batter and limited the Dodgers to six hits, including five singles. But the other hit was the solo shot by Ohtani, who jumped on a first-pitch cutter from Rasmussen to lead off the sixth inning and blasted the ball a Statcast-projected 427 feet out to center field.

Yes, the only Major League pitcher who’s thrown at least 500 innings since 2021 with a lower ERA (2.62) than Rasmussen (2.76) is the same player who launched the game-winning homer -- his 15th of the season -- off Rasmussen on Tuesday night.

If what Ohtani does ever starts to feel normal for some reason, read that last sentence again.

“Good player,” Rasmussen deadpanned. “I think he's got a bright future.”

On the other hand, Rasmussen has been an incredible bright spot for the Rays. Over his last three starts, he has allowed just one run on nine hits with 29 strikeouts and only one walk over 21 innings.

“I think it's probably the best I've ever seen him pitch, and it's fun to watch, man,” fellow starter Shane McClanahan said on Tuesday afternoon. “He deserves this. We're all in awe of what he's doing every day.”

Rasmussen wasn’t getting ahead in the count quite as often as he’d like during the first few innings on Tuesday night, but he was no less effective overall. He induced a double play from Mookie Betts to escape the first inning unscathed, and shortstop Taylor Walls cut down Kyle Tucker at the plate in the second when Rasmussen fired Alex Freeland’s comebacker bunt to second base, thinking Walls would start another inning-ending double play -- only Walls was standing a few feet in front of the bag.

“You know, we preach, 'Get the ball to that guy,’” Rasmussen quipped, referring to the slick-fielding Walls. “So, decided to hit the cutoff man and let him do his thing.”

Rasmussen only got better after that, retiring the Dodgers in order during his second trip through the lineup. He struck out the side in the fifth, finishing two of those at-bats with four-seam fastballs before he caught Chuckie Robinson looking on a two-strike two-seamer.

“I don't think it was particularly sharp, right? I think we were just able to change speeds and shapes enough that we were able to limit hard contact and get balls hit at guys,” Rasmussen said. “There is some luck that is involved with that, but we're very fortunate that it worked out that way.”

Ohtani changed the game with one swing in the sixth, ending Rasmussen’s streak of scoreless innings at 19.

Rasmussen struck him out on a cutter in the first inning, and he appeared to be ready for the righty’s first-pitch cutter in the sixth. Rasmussen finished the inning, and Cash said he was “adamant” about returning to the mound to pitch the seventh, even though it pushed his pitch count into unprecedented territory for him.

Rasmussen said there was “maybe some frustration” that went into his insistence on staying in the game, but he showed no sign of fatigue as he struck out the final two batters he faced.

“We're all competitive, right? You don't like knowing your day's over, especially ending that way,” he said. “I'm happy for the opportunity, and then I'm happy they let me go back out for the seventh there, because they definitely didn't have to.”

But the Rays couldn’t take Rasmussen off the hook for the loss, and they couldn’t convert their solid contact -- including 12 hard-hit balls -- into a single run against Justin Wrobleski and three relievers. Cash said Tampa Bay “swung the bats better than maybe what we showed,” crediting the Dodgers’ infield defense and a strong pitching performance.

“We put good swings on the ball, did what we wanted to do,” catcher Nick Fortes said. “Just one of those nights where it didn't go our way.”