Drew Rasmussen Made Wild History With His Near No-Hitter Against the Yankees

While Drew Rasmussen fell short of joining Don Larsen and Roy Halladay, he made history in a rather peculiar way.

Oct 3, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) reacts in the sixth inning in game one of the ALDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs against the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tampa Bay Rays’ Drew Rasmussen enjoyed one of the best outings of his career on Saturday night against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

Tropicana Field was packed with over 40,000 people who witnessed not only a Rays win but also a historic performance by Rasmussen. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and, overall, allowed just one hit and two walks, along with 10 strikeouts over eight dazzling innings.

He was just four outs away from joining Don Larsen and Roy Halladay as the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in the postseason. With two outs in the eighth, Austin Wells had the first and only hit of the game for the Yankees, a double to right field, but he was thrown out at third base while attempting to stretch the hit to a triple.

While it seems like Tampa Bay’s manager Kevin Cash was going to let Rasmussen go to the finish line had the no-hitter been alive, it’s been a very long time since a pitcher accomplished that feat against New York.

Drew Rasmussen has been Yankees' kryptonite

Oct 3, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) delivers a pitch in the second inning in game one of the ALDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs against the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required) shared this tidbit of information showing how rare no-hitting the Yankees really is.

“Since the last time it happened — Sept. 20, 1958 (Hoyt Wilhelm) — all other teams have had 168 complete-game no-hitters thrown against them, just in the time during which the Yankees had none,” Stark said.

Not taking combined no-hitters into account, Stark added that Rasmussen actually came close to throwing a no-hitter against New York twice. Not only twice ever, but in consecutive outings. In his final start of the regular season on September 22 in the Bronx.

Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium in his final start of the regular season. This means he took no-hitters into the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, in consecutive outings.

10/10 no notes

All 10 of Drew's Ks last night, presented by @CoronaUSA! pic.twitter.com/clvZIGAVzw

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 4, 2026

He’s the only pitcher since 1974 to take a no-hitter that late in the game against the Yankees in back-to-back starts. If this feat couldn’t get any rarer, he did not complete either no-hitter; doing so against any team is extremely rare.

“In fact, it’s so rare for a starting pitcher to take back-to-back no-hitters into the seventh, against any team, that STATS reports he’s only the second starting pitcher in the last 30 years to do it in the same season,” Stark said. The other was Justin Verlander, who did it in consecutive 2022 starts against the Twins — the first in May, the second in August.”

The last pitcher prior to Rasmussen to accomplish this within the same month was Ron Darling, who came close to no-hitting the Toronto Blue Jays in consecutive outings against them in July 1992.

While Rasmussen ultimately fell short of throwing a no-hitter on both occasions, he still made history in the process and contributed in a big way to the Rays’ 1-0 Game 1 victory over New York in the ALDS.