As his Tampa Bay Rays continued their battle for a World Series championship, former Oregon State Beavers ace Drew Rasmussen took the start on the mound on Saturday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.
It was far from Rasmussen's best start for the American League Champions.
After the Rays' offense built a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Milwaukee grabbed two runs back immediately in the bottom of the frame. Rasmussen held Milwaukee scoreless in the second and third innings before allowing a third run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rasmussen was pulled in that frame, and the Brewers grabbed three more runs over the course of the contest to win the game 5-4 on their home field.
Pitching three and two thirds and of an inning (89 pitches), Rasmussen allowed six hits with three runs allowed and two walks, while striking out four batters.
In four starts this postseason, Rasmussen has now struckout 27 batters and walked five, while allowing six runs off of 19 hits.
"I thought early on my command wasn’t very good,” Rasmussen said of his appearance on Saturday. “I felt like I was falling behind far too often to expect good results. And then from there, they found themselves in some hitters’ counts and were able to find holes.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash offered similar thoughts on Rasmussen's performance after the game.
"Just wasn't as sharp, wasn't as crisp," Cash said. "I thought after the second inning, the third inning, he kind of settled in and started throwing some good changeups, but Milwaukee, you know, they put together a bunch of good at bats throughout the entirety of the game and certainly his outing, Rass did everything he could compete and just felt like he just wasn't as sharp as he,as he's been for quite some time."
After the disappointing start to the series on the road, Tampa Bay will now get the opportunity to play games three, four, and five (if they get that far) at home in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“Obviously, we’re excited to head back home. I mean, it would be really nice to have won today. Our offense, I would say they’re pretty confident when they spot our pitching staff a four-run lead, that we’re going to go ahead and get the job done," Rasmussen said.
With Saturday's loss to Milwaukee, the Rays find themselves down 2-0 in the series. They'll try to start their climb out of that hole in the best-of-seven series on Monday evening on Fox, with a start time of 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET.
If the series gets to a game six, it's likely Rasmussen would pitch again.
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