Rays' Starting Pitchers Continue to Dominate, Win Streak Reaches 9 After Sweeping A's
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Baseball history continues to be made by the Tampa Bay Rays, who had their ninth-straight blowout victory to open the season on Sunday, beating the Oakland Athletics 11-0 for the second straight day.
The Rays have swept their first three series, going 3-0 against Detroit, Washington and Oakland. Sure, that's not baseball elite, but they have won a combined seven times against others, so the Rays being perfect still means a lot.
They'll take a win every day, each and every one of them.
They are doing everything right, getting great pitching and defense — which isn't much of a surprise considering this franchise's history — but they've also continued to thump the baseball, hitting three more home runs on Sunday to give them 24 dingers in nine games, the most in baseball and second-most through nine games in baseball history. Only the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals (25) have hit more.
It's the pitching, though, that continues to amaze. On Sunday it was Drew Rasmussen's turn, and he was fabulous. He pitched seven innings and only allowed one hit, striking out eight to move to 2-0, just like all of the Rays' top-four starters. He's pitched 13 innings now and allowed only three hits, with a perfect 0.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts without a single walk.
"Ras set the tone, that's back-to-back great starts. He was super efficient and his strike-throwing was elite,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Rasmussen has been crazy efficient in both starts, getting 39 outs on just a combined 149 pitches. He's basically had 13 easy, stress-free innings, which is a wonderful way to start the season.
"I felt like we executed early in counts, which gave us some freedom late,'' Rasmussen said. "I just felt the ability to throw strike one today was huge, and doing that continuously put us in really good position to not trying to be perfect before two strikes.
"I feel the trust in the movement profiles is there, so I'm not necessarily trying to be nit-picky and throw anything on the corner. Throw it over the big part of the plate early and then expand late. The way we're working right now, things are going really well. With the movement profiles being right, there's no fear about throwing anything in the big part of the zone.''
The Rays scored 31 runs in this series, and they lead the majors with 75 runs, an average of 8.3 runs per game. They got a solo home run from shortstop Wander Franco in the first inning, a grand slam from Brandon Lowe in the fourth and a two-run homer from Harold Ramirez, who had three already this season, in the fifth inning.
The Ramirez home run was nice but Cash and his teammates were more interesting in talking about his base-running in the second inning. He hustled to beat out an infield hit, then beat a throw to second on a ground ball, getting a good lead and quick break to keep the inning alive for Lowe, who hit that grand slam. He's driven in eight runs on the past two days.
“Every thanks has to go to Harold there for really busting down a line on something that he really could have just dogged to second to save his body,” Lowe said. “I don’t get that at-bat without Harold and I gotta thank him. I think I owe him a steak later on this year.”
Next up are the Boston Red Sox, who are feeling good about themselves after sweeping the Tigers in Detroit. They are 5-4 on the season, and have ended a lot of long Rays winning streaks in the past. The Rays have won nine games twice before in team history — in 2021 and 2014 — and both times it was the Red Sox who ended the streaks. (Here's the story on the Rays' longest winning streaks. CLICK HERE)
The Rays feel good about the challenge with their AL East rivals, though. The pitching is great, and the hitters are all locked in, from the top of the lineup to the bottom.
"The way they're going right now is unbelievable. I can't say enough good things (about our offense),'' Rasmussen said. "Everyone is swinging it, everyone is hitting the ball for power and doing damage.''
''The start we're off to is unbelievable. I think this organization expects big things, in the regular season and the postseason. Confidence is sky high, but I'm also excited to see the next couple of days.''
The Rays are going to use an opener on Monday for the first time this season. Lefty Jalen Beeks will get the start, and Josh Fleming, who was roughed up in his start at Washington, is expected to get bulk innings.
With Rasmussen's brilliant start on Sunday, the Rays' top four starters have now all pitched twice. Their numbers are phenomenal. Here's a look:
Shane McClanahan
| Game | Innings | Runs | Hits | Strikeouts | Walks | Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 30 vs. Detroit | 6 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 87 |
April 5 at Washington | 6 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 94 |
TOTAL 2-0 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 90.5 |
Zach Eflin
| Game | Innings | Runs | Hits | Strikeouts | Walks | Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 1 vs. Detroit | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 74 |
April 7 vs. Oakland | 6 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 82 |
TOTALS 2-0 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 78.0 |
Jeffrey Springs
| Games | Innings | Runs | Hits | Strikeouts | Walks | Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2 vs. Detroit | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 81 |
April 8 vs. Oakland | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 89 |
TOTALS 2-0 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 4 | 85.0 |
Drew Rasmussen
| Game | Innings | Runs | Hits | Strikeouts | Walks | Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 3 at Washington | 6 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 66 |
April 9 vs. Oakland | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 83 |
TOTALS 2-0 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 74.5 |
Related stories on Rays baseball
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- WATCH WANDER FRANCO HOME RUN: The Tampa Bay Rays are off to a hot start on Sunday, getting a first-inning home run from star shortstop Wander Franco. He's tied for the American League lead in homers now, with four. He only hit six last year. Here's the highlight of the homer. CLICK HERE
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- TOM BREW COLUMN: The Tampa Bay Rays are 6-0 and the lone unbeaten team in baseball a week into the season. They're doing everything right — pitching, defense and even hitting — winning all six games by at least four runs. They hope to keep the streak alive this weekend during a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics. CLICK HERE
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