Drew Rasmussen no-hits Yankees into 8th inning, Rays win ALDS opener

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 3, 2026

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TAMPA, Fla. — Drew Rasmussen delivered everything the Tampa Bay Rays could have wanted and more on a spectacular Saturday night at Tropicana Field, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in leading them to a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series opener.

Rasmussen got the first two outs of the eighth, then Yankees catcher Austin Wells ruined the bid for the third no-hitter in postseason history by lacing a ball at 107.8 mph that landed just inside the right-field line.

Wells, inexplicably, tried to turn the obvious double into a triple but was thrown out on a tidy relay from right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. to shortstop Taylor Walls to third baseman Junior Caminero.

A third-inning homer by Jonathan Aranda provided the margin of victory, and three outs of relief work by closer Bryan Baker completed the job as the Rays made a dazzling return to the playoffs after missing out the last two years.

In doing so, they snapped a seven-game postseason losing streak that started with the final three games of the 2021 ALDS vs. the Boston Red Sox and included wild-card series sweeps in 2022 vs. the Cleveland Guardians and in 2023 by the Texas Rangers.

Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.

The night was loud and festive from the start, with an announced sellout crowd of 40,542, the largest for a postseason game at the Trop since the 2010 ALDS opener vs. Texas, which drew 41,845

Rasmussen, who overcame three major elbow surgeries (the most recent in 2023), continued his spectacular run. In his previous outing on Sept. 22 at Yankee Stadium, he took a no-hitter into the seventh and then allowed a hit leading off the inning. He left with 6 2/3 complete innings and a career high 114 pitches.

Saturday, Rasmussen allowed just two walks through the first seven innings and got two quick outs to start the eighth. The pitch Wells hit was Rasmussen’s 101st. For the night, he struck out 10, tying a Rays postseason record.

____