The Rays have built a reputation for outsmarting the rest of baseball, especially when it comes to handling starting pitchers. Tampa Bay has long leaned on the idea that a starter is less effective the third time through an opposing order, and that approach has become part of the club’s identity.
That’s what makes Drew Rasmussen such an interesting twist in this postseason. In the ALCS, he has been pushing the Rays toward something very different: length from the starter’s spot.
After Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over the Guardians in Game 5, the Rays grabbed a 3-2 series lead and moved within one win of the World Series. Rasmussen was a major reason why.
He worked seven innings, gave up one run on four hits and one walk, and struck out six while keeping Cleveland’s crowd in check. His postseason ERA now sits at 1.29.
Across these playoffs, he leads all MLB pitchers with 21 innings, and on Sunday he did it by pounding the ground ball game, finishing with 10 groundouts and just one flyout.
The outing fit right into a remarkable October run. Only five pitchers have finished at least seven innings in the 2026 postseason, and Rasmussen has already turned up on that list multiple times.
In Rays playoff history, that’s happened only eight times in 72 games. Rasmussen has now made himself a part of both of those rare company lists.
His first postseason start this year came in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees, and it was even more eye-opening. Rasmussen became the first pitcher in Rays history to throw eight innings in a playoff game, and the first pitcher in MLB history to hold the Yankees hitless beyond six innings in a postseason game. That outing also made him the only Rays pitcher other than Shane McClanahan to get through seven innings in the postseason over the last 12 years.
Sunday’s game was a study in contrast. Parker Messick, the Guardians’ rookie left-hander, got through just two innings and needed 57 pitches to do it.
He reached the 200-inning mark in his first season, but Tampa Bay made him grind for it. He threw 31 pitches just to escape the first inning, which included a bases-loaded walk that brought in the game’s first run.
By the time he recorded his fifth out, he had already surrendered five hits and two walks for two earned runs. Rasmussen, on the other hand, was sitting at 57 pitches after four innings of work that was nearly spotless.
The Guardians did get some traffic against him later, but Kevin Cash stayed with his starter in a way he has not always done before. Cleveland had five plate appearances with the tying run at the plate against Rasmussen in the sixth and seventh innings. The only run that scored came on Chase DeLauter’s groundout in the sixth.
Rasmussen’s national profile still doesn’t quite match his results. Since 2021, his 2.76 ERA ranks fifth among starters, behind only Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.61), Paul Skenes (2.62), Shohei Ohtani (2.68) and Chris Sale (2.74).
This season, he led the American League in WHIP at 0.91 and in K/BB at 5.44. Even with elbow surgery costing him large portions of the 2023 and ’24 seasons, he has now finished six straight years with an ERA under 3.00.
Tampa Bay still needs more than one arm to finish off the ALCS at home and punch its ticket to the World Series. But if the Rays get there, they already know who should get the ball first.
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Yandy Daz was right in the middle of it again as the Rays took down the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 in Game 5 of the ALCS, a win that sent Tampa Bay to the World Series. Daz collected three hits in the clincher, helping a club that had already clawed back from a 2-1 series deficit to finish the job and punch its ticket to face the Milwaukee Brewers.
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Rays Are Suddenly One Home Win From The World Series
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Now the pressure shifts back home, where the Rays will get their next chance to finish the job in front of their own crowd. The setup is exactly what every October team wants, but it also leaves one more hurdle between Tampa Bay and a spot on the sport's biggest stage. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Head Home With One Massive Chance Still To Take
The Rays are heading back to Tropicana Field with the AL Championship Series in their hands after outlasting the Guardians 3-1 in Cleveland to move within a win of the World Series. Drew Rasmussen gave Tampa Bay exactly what it needed in Game 5, covering seven innings and allowing just one run, while the bullpen finished the job and kept the series momentum squarely on the Rays side.
Bryan Baker closed it out for his fifth save of the postseason, preserving a victory that gives Tampa Bay two chances at home to finish the job. The pressure now shifts to St. Petersburg, where the Rays can finally try to turn a strong road trip into a pennant-clinching finish. [Read more 🡒]