Rays Starter Drew Rasmussen Pitches 6 Scoreless Innings in 6-2 Win Over Nationals

The Rays had won three straight to open a season before — in 2002, 2012 and 2022 — but had never made it to four. They did that Monday in their first road game of the season after sweeping Detroit in Tropicana Field last weekend.

“Anytime you do a first in this organization, there’s been a lot of winning teams here, so we’ve got to take that and have some pride in that,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “(Rasmussen's) stuff was pretty electric.''

So far, Tampa Bay's four starters — Shane McClanahan, Zach Eflin, Jeffrey Springs and Rasmussen — have pitched 23 innings and allowed just one run and nine hits. They've struck out 30 batters and walked only three. Those are epic numbers.

According to the ESPN Stats & Info folks, the Rays are just the third team since earned runs became a stat with a sub-1.00 ERA and at least 30 strikeouts through the first four games, joining the 1978 California (now Los Angeles) Angels and 1991 Chicago White Sox. 

The Rays have outscored opponents 27-5 so far. The five runs allowed overall through four games are the fewest by any team through four games since the San Diego Padres did it in 2019. It's the best defensive start in Rays history.

Here's what Rasmussen, who touched 97 mph on the radar gun several times and topped out at 97.7 mph, said after the game, per the Tampa Bay Times and MLB.com:

— on getting ahead early in counts

“Just getting ahead early and then expanding with two strikes. I try to be as efficient as possible and fill it up to the best of my abilities, and we were able to do that.”

— on the talent in Tampa Bay's rotation

“A lot of good results are expected when you have the talent that we do,” Rasmussen said. “So the start we’ve gotten off to so far has been incredible, and we’re in a really good spot right now.”

— on Rays starting season 4-0

“If you can do something positive for the first time in franchise history, that's always a good thing. We're swinging it well, we're defending it well and we're pitching it well. I think when we can control those things, we're going to be a tough team to beat.”

— on having good control of all five pitches

“I thought I did a pretty good job of throwing everything over the plate and then, with two strikes, expanding with it. (The Rays' coaching staff) never asked me to do anything they didn't think I was capable of accomplishing. I thought today was a pretty good indicator of what could happen for the remainder of this year.”

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