Rays' Drew Rasmussen records career-high 13 Ks, strikes out each of Red Sox's top-3 batters 3 times in win
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen mowed down the Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu during a 7-5 win on Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field. And then the righty did it again, and again.
Rasmussen struck out each of Boston's top-three batters three times. In the first and fourth innings, the 2025 All-Star got all three of them swinging.
In a surgical performance that paralyzed an already stagnant Red Sox offense, Rasmussen piled up 13 Ks, shattering his previous career high of 10 that he set in a victory over the New York Yankees on Sept. 9, 2022.
Continuing to jockey for first place with this year’s Yankees in the AL East, the Rays (40-25) completed a sweep of the Red Sox (27-39) on Wednesday. Boston has lost four games in a row and six of its past eight contests.
Rasmussen allowed only two hits in seven innings of work. He didn't give up a run. He built on the nine-punchout showcase against the Miami Marlins he authored last week. In that outing, he also spun seven innings of shutout ball.
On Wednesday, the bulk of the Red Sox's scoring came in the top of the eighth, the first frame Rasmussen wasn't on the bump.
Caleb Durbin launched a solo shot to left off right-handed reliever Cole Sulser. Soon after, with Steven Matz on the hill, Rafaela suddenly found success, taking an 83-mph changeup to left for a three-run homer that made it a 5-4 game.
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Tampa Bay needed one more bullpen arm to get out of the inning and another to secure the sweep-clinching win.
Fortunately for Rasmussen, his masterpiece wasn’t spoiled. Providing immediate relief in the bottom of the eighth, Cedric Mullins blasted a two-run dinger to right. That big fly gave Tampa Bay a three-run cushion heading into the ninth.
Although Durbin went yard again amid the Red Sox’s final stand, their comeback bid proved insufficient.
Rasmussen accumulated 20 whiffs on Wednesday versus Boston. The only time he caused more was when he induced 22 during his aforementioned start against the Yankees close to four years ago, according to MLB.com. His four-seam fastball and cutter were especially effective as he went up and down the Red Sox lineup.
Rasmussen was the first Rays player to tally at least 13 strikeouts in a game since Tyler Glasnow, who scattered 14 Ks across six innings against who else but Boston on Sept. 6, 2023, per MLB.com. Tampa Bay’s single-game franchise record for strikeouts is 15, a mark etched by James Shields in 2012.
After a rough start versus the Los Angeles Angels on May 30, Rasmussen has bounced back with a pair of gems, exhibiting some of the best stuff of his career.
