Kiermaier Homers Again, Rasmussen Has Career Outing in Rays' 3-2 Win Over Mariners
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sometimes, the waiting really is the hardest part.
For a starting pitcher coming off a rough outing, all those days off can be tough. Getting back on the mound and bouncing back with a nice performance is always the goal, but having the patience to get there can be a challenge.
Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen knew that all too well. After struggling in his start last Wednesday in Chicago and then having to wait through a couple of off days, he finally was back on the hill a week later, looking to do big things.
He couldn't have drawn it up any better.
Rasmussen threw six scoreless inning on Wednesday, limiting the Seattle Mariners to just two hits in the 3-2 win. Rasmussen's nine strikeouts were a career high. In fact, he had only nine strikeouts total through his first three starts.
He was also much more efficient this time out, throwing 84 pitches over six innings. He threw 79 in just three innings last Wednesday in Chicago. He also had 19 swing-and-misses form Mariners hitters.
"A really impressive out for Ras,'' Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said of Rasmussen's outing. "That might have been the deepest he’s gone and he racked up a lot of strikeouts. I know he was itching to get deeper into ballgames and he certainly did that tonight.
“The cutter played up and he threw two shapes of breaking balls, giving them constant different looks. We know he’s got the power with his fastball, but the more he can mix, it gives him more of a chance to create the swing and miss. He did that tonight.''
Rasmussen earned just the second win of the season for a Rays starter. (Shane McClanahan got the first one on Sunday.) He's now 1-1 on the year, but the Rays are 3-1 in his four starts. He earned run average dropped from 5.25 to 3.50 in one night.
The Rays only scored three times, but it was enough. The big blow was Kevin Kiermaier's two-run home run in the fourth inning that made it 3-0. He was 2-for-3 on the night and has been on a bit of a heater lately. He had that dramatic walk-off homer on Saturday night against Boston and has his average up over .200 for the first time all season.
The Rays scored quickly in a scary first inning. Tampa Bay leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena walked and then stole second, going to third on bad throw. Harold Ramirez then hit a hard line drive that hit Mariners starter Marco Gonzales in the left wrist, scoring Arozarena. Gonzales had to leave the game, but appears to be OK, at least according to his tweet after the game.
The Rays' bullpen made it interesting down the stretch. Colin Poche came in to relieve Rasmussen, but gave up a long one-out homer to shortstop J.P. Crawford in the seventh before getting the final two outs. Brooks Raley got two outs in the eighth, but then walked pinch-hitter Tom Murphy. Cash then turned to his closer, Andrew Kittredge, who gave up a quick single to Ty France, but then got Jesse Winker to ground out to second to end the threat.
Kittredge got the first two hitters in the ninth, but then gave up a long home run to second baseman Abraham Toro. But then he got rookie Julio Rodriguez to fly out to Kiermaier in center to end the game.
Rasmussen was throwing to rookie catcher Rene Pinto, who got his first-ever major-league start behind the plate on Wednesday. He made his debut the night before, hitting a home run. Rasmussen said they worked great together. (Pinto also had a single, and is 3-for-6 in two games.
"It felt really good, and I was pleased with the execution today,.'' Rasmussen said. "Pinto did a good job behind the plate and we had a good game plan coming in. I thought we had good command of the cutter early, and that allowed us to get ahead. I thought the slider was really good today. It's just one of those things as you get rolling and get swings and misses that the confidence really goes up.
"It felt really good to go that deep together, to help the bullpen because they do a lot of the heavy lifting for us. He did a really great calling pitches and did a good job of framing pitches.''
Kiermaier, who joked about ''turning into a power hitter'' before starting his chat with the media, now has two homers in four games. He also made a dramatic catch at the wall, which is commonplace but also always appreciated by his pitchers.
He's starting to get more comfortable at the plate after three weeks of struggles.
"I was searching there for a while, and still am really,'' Kiermaier said. "I'm starting to feel more athletic up there and swinging with more authority. We're trying to get more guys rolling offensively, and it's a process every season. We'll turn it on here at some point, but after a tough loss last night, it was good to get a win tonight and trying to win the series (Thursday.)''
The two teams wrap up the series on Thursday with an afternoon game at Tropicana Field. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. ET. The Rays are now 10-8 and two games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. Seattle fell to 11-7.
Drew Rasmussen
Kevin Kiermaier home run
Kevin Kiermaier trot
Randy Arozarena steals
Mariners pitcher Marco Gonzales injured
Marco Gonzales injured
Marco Gonzales goes down
Taylor Walls throw
Yandy Diaz fields
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