Yankees run into buzzsaw, manage 1 hit in ALDS opener vs. Rays

ST. PETERSBURG – The Yankees’ strong starting pitching is a large factor in their belief that they have what it takes to go all the way this October, prompting manager Aaron Boone to say the quartet of Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodón and Max Fried inspires confidence to “deliver us a big-time outing” in every contest.

Saturday night’s opener of the American League Division Series reminded everyone there are impressive arms on the other side, too. Drew Rasmussen was masterful, holding the Yankees hitless into the eighth inning as the Rays claimed Game 1, 1-0, at Tropicana Field.

In all best-of-five postseason series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 116 of 160 times (73%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams taking a 1-0 lead at home have gone on to win 42 of 56 times (75%).

Austin Wells broke up Rasmussen’s no-hit bid with a two-out double in the eighth, but Wells was thrown out attempting to stretch it into a triple. The one hit was the fewest in Yankees postseason history; they've played 447 postseason games, 137 more than any other franchise.

The setting was far different from what the Yankees have come to expect over the years, when games at the Trop often look and sound like they could be taking place in the Bronx.

Schlittler -- who will start Game 2 on Monday -- said as much, noting, “I wouldn't say there's really too much of an away crowd here. I expect there to be a lot of Yankees fans. In some ways, you are, to an extent, kind of playing at home.”

It sure didn’t feel that way, as the towel-waving crowd of 40,542 was loud from the first pitch. Rasmussen’s dominance did nothing to change that, limiting New York to two walks while striking out 10.

The righty silenced a Yankees lineup that had produced 18 runs over their two-game sweep of the Red Sox in the American League Wild Card Series. Rasmussen also carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Yankees on Sept. 22 in New York, the night Tampa Bay clinched the American League East.

Cole navigated five innings of one-run ball, scattering five hits in the right-hander’s first postseason start since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. Jonathan Aranda cracked a third-inning home run off Cole, who walked one and struck out five.