Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday, only to lose it with two outs on a double by Austin Wells, who got thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Wells did the Rays a favor by getting thrown out at third to end the eighth inning. He was the tying run in a 1-0 ballgame.
That 1-0 score will hold as the final score and the Rays have taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five ALDS. The two big stories here were Rasmussen and Wells.
Rasmussen ended his outing by allowing just the one hit with two walks and 10 strikeouts in eight innings. Bryan Baker took over for the ninth and went 1-2-3 to close out the win. The Yankees finished with just the one hit, their lowest total in a playoff game in franchise history. Their previous low was two, which they did four times, most recently in 2012 against the Tigers in the ALCS.
Wells' double, meanwhile, was so close to being a foul ball that it actually touched the right-field foul lane. As they say, it's a game of inches.
The baserunning gaffe, though, erased it. Aerial shots clearly showed Yankees third-base coach Luis Rojas holding both hands in the air, universally known in baseball parlance as the "stop sign." Wells had his head down and didn't appear to look at the third-base coach, instead running straight through the stop sign. That's a cardinal sin in the baseball world and it wasn't Wells' only one. He also made the third out at third base, which is a big no-no. Further, the ball was down the right-field line, so the baserunner is blind to how the defense is dealing with the ball and needs his third-base coach. Sometimes when the ball is "in front" of the player -- such as a runner going to second seeing a ball down the left-field line -- it's generally acceptable for a player to make a decision on his own.
Not here, though. Wells isn't exactly a burner, either. Per Baseball Savant, Wells' sprint speed is in the 16th percentile in all of baseball, making him one of the slowest runners in the league.
"Just obviously not a good decision there," manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "Not sure if he saw something on his way between first and second that, you know, caused him to go there. But, obviously, you know, a mistake there."
As things stand, the Yankees' offense wasted an excellent pitching effort from Gerrit Cole and three relievers. Though it wouldn't have been a sure thing or even a great chance, Wells stopping at second like his third-base coach desired would've given the Yankees an opportunity to tie the game in the eighth inning.
"I thought it kicked off more than it did," Wells said after the game (via SNY). "He made a good play on the ball. Two outs there, I'm trying to make something happen and be aggressive with not much going on in the game. Obviously, I would love to be safe there or standing on second base."
Alas, it is now 1-0 Rays in a five-game series.
Rasmussen didn't finish the no-hitter but did make history in one way: in Yankees playoff history, a prolific legacy that spans 447 games, this is the first time the Yankees were no-hit through six innings. He took it all the way through 7 ⅔.
"I comped him to Roy Halladay," manager Kevin Cash said after the game. "I've said a lot of dumb things in my life. That wasn't one of them."
There weren't really many close calls until Wells' no-doubter. The Yankees hit four balls hard, but each well-struck ball was directly at a Rays defender.
With this no-no broken up, the only no-hitters in postseason history remain:
This would have been rarified air for the Rays, too. The only regular-season no-hitter in franchise history came from Matt Garza on July 26, 2010.
Though this is probably the best start of Rasmussen's career, it continues a magnificent run with the Rays for the 31-year-old right-hander. He was traded from the Brewers to the Rays in a mutually beneficial, four-player deal in 2021 that sent Willy Adames to Milwaukee. Rasmussen became a starter and excelled from the start, only being held back by internal brace surgery on his elbow in 2023.
Once he was back full-time in 2025, he made his first All-Star team and finished the season with a 10-5 record and a 2.76 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 150 innings. This season was the best of his career, again making the All-Star team and finishing the regular season 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA (159 ERA+), 0.91 WHIP (leading the American League), 174 strikeouts in 170 innings and 4.7 WAR. He'll get some down-ballot Cy Young support and he entered the playoffs as the ace of the No. 1 seed in the AL.
And he just threw one of the best playoff starts in Rays history.
But Wells attempted a triple and was thrown out at third by a mile. Ridiculous decision whether it was Wells himself or the third-base coach. A runner on second is in scoring position as the tying run. And he's slow!
Rasmussen has been very efficient and is just about to throw his 100th pitch. Two outs in the eighth.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. wasted no time in grounding out.
Kevin Cash no doubt is going to be managing with the goal of winning this series in mind and not individual glory for Rasmussen. I'd be shocked if he comes out for the ninth, assuming he gets through the eighth without allowing a hit. As noted below, this game is as tight as can be.
It should be noted that with a 1-0 Rays lead, despite how dominant Rasmussen has been, the Rays are far from a guarantee here. A walk and a home run and all of a sudden it would be a Yankees lead.
He threw 114 pitches last time out, so he can certainly handle the eighth. And if he gets through the eighth without giving up a hit, you gotta let him take the ninth.
As a personal rule, and I urge everyone to join me here, I don't think combined no-hitters should actually count. A true no-hitter is when the starting pitcher completes all nine innings without allowing a hit.
