Rasmussen, Rays – After a rough stretch defined by falling behind early, the Rays got what they’d been asking for Friday night: first-pitch strikes, early runs, and a dominant Rasmussen—who went seven scoreless with one hit allowed—as Tampa Bay beat the Marlins 6-0 and improved
Drew Rasmussen didn’t come out of the Rays’ dugout at Tropicana Field on Wednesday morning looking for drama. He looked for precision. The issue, he said plainly, was that he hasn’t been getting enough first-pitch strikes lately to meet his own high standard.
“If we get that sorted out,” Rasmussen said, “I think we’ll be in a good spot again.”
Manager Kevin Cash was describing the same kind of fix—just on a bigger scale. In the Rays’ recent skid, they lost eight of their past 10 games. Too often they were pushed into early holes by tough starts and a late-starting lineup. The Tigers scored first in all three games as they swept the Rays at Trop. and Tampa Bay had scored first only four times in the past 10 games overall.
“Let’s see if we can get some early runs,” Cash told reporters Friday afternoon at loanDepot park in Miami. “See if we can kind of repay the favor with batting first and get our offense going for our pitchers.”
Friday night, in the series opener against the Marlins, the Rays finally played the way they’d been trying to. Rasmussen set the tone early, and Tampa Bay surged in front before Miami could catch up.
The result was a 6-0 victory that moved the Rays to an American League-leading 37-23.
Rasmussen was relentless with the strike zone against Miami’s lineup, throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 22 batters he faced. He turned that early control into one of the best starts of his career: nine strikeouts and just one hit allowed over seven innings.
It wasn’t a coincidence. Rasmussen returned to form after his uncharacteristic four-inning, five-run outing against the Angels last Saturday. What he did against the Marlins, though, stood out even compared to his usual top-of-the-rotation performances.
From the start, the dominance looked controlled. He breezed through a perfect first inning on only six pitches. After allowing a one-out single to Javier Sanoja in the second inning, Rasmussen shut the door, retiring the final 17 hitters he faced in order.
His nine strikeouts were tied for the second most in his career. and they were his most in any outing since a career-high 10-strikeout performance against the Yankees on Sept. 9, 2022. The way he got outs mattered. too—three strikeouts with his cutter. three with his changeup. two with his two-seamer. and one with his four-seam fastball.
Rasmussen also hit a workload milestone the Rays would notice. Friday was only the seventh time he worked seven innings, tied for the second-longest start of his career. Two of those seven-inning efforts have come within his past three games. including seven scoreless innings against the Yankees on May 24.
That kind of outing was exactly what Tampa Bay’s rotation needed after starters allowed at least five runs in five of their past seven games, including each of their three games against Detroit.
And in return, the Rays gave him the early run support they’d been chasing. Plenty of it, and plenty early.
Tampa Bay scored three in the first inning and kept adding runs to cruise, boosting their record when scoring first to 26-7 this season. For Rasmussen, it was breathing room he didn’t have to hunt for.
The first-inning swing started with details that turned into momentum. With one out. Junior Caminero doubled. Jonathan Aranda walked. and Yandy Díaz beat a potential double-play grounder to keep the inning going. Richie Palacios delivered the hit the Rays had needed—something that didn’t just find a gap but caught a break. His line drive kicked off right fielder Owen Caissie’s glove for a two-run triple.
Ryan Vilade followed Palacios’ third career triple with an RBI single off Marlins opener Ryan Gusto. By then, the Rays had given Rasmussen three runs’ worth of space, scoring first for the first time since Sunday.
The offense didn’t stop with the early lead. Tampa Bay appeared to shake off the frustration of the last series’ sweep by pushing runs into multiple innings.
In the fifth, Caminero doubled for the second time and scored on a single by Aranda, who snapped an 0-for-14 stretch with his team-leading 44th RBI of the season. Caminero also walked twice on the night and singled in the eighth to reach base a fifth time.
In the sixth, Cedric Mullins homered for the second straight game. This time it was a two-strike splitter from Tyler Phillips that cleared right-center field for Mullins’ fifth home run. In the seventh. after Caminero walked and Díaz singled. Vilade—who moved to left field when Chandler Simpson exited due to left thumb discomfort—delivered another RBI single.
By the time the game settled into its final shape, the story was clear: when the Rays didn’t have to chase early, they looked like the team they’ve been trying to be—controlled on the mound, aggressive at the plate, and ready to get out ahead before anyone else could score first.
Rays Drew Rasmussen Marlins Kevin Cash Tropicana Field loanDepot park 6-0 victory first-pitch strikes Cedric Mullins Junior Caminero Yandy Díaz