MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays ace Drew Rasmussen had sailed through his first three postseason starts while working at least six innings in each of them.
He couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning Saturday night against a Milwaukee Brewers lineup that specializes in driving up pitch counts and grinding starters into submission.
“They put together good at-bats,” Rasmussen said after the Rays lost 5-4 to the Brewers in Game 2 of the World Series. “Kudos to them. They fouled off some really good pitches. They took some really quality pitchers. They just fought, they scrapped and they just put pitches in play.”
Tampa Bay’s inability to protect an early 4-0 lead caused the Rays to fall behind 2-0 in this World Series featuring two franchises seeking their first championship. Rasmussen gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings, his shortest start since lasting just 2 1/3 innings in a 12-4 loss to the New York Yankees on July 9.
The Rays scored four runs in the first against Milwaukee rookie Logan Henderson. That lead seemed pretty secure, considering Rasmussen entered the World Series having allowed three runs in 21 playoff innings against the Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.
Milwaukee’s lineup proved tougher to solve.
“I thought early on my command wasn’t very good,” Rasmussen said. “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.”
Rasmussen also didn’t get much help from his defense.
Jackson Chourio and Jake Bauers opened the bottom of the first with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. After Christian Yelich struck out swinging, William Contreras hit a high foul pop that went off the glove of first baseman Jonathan Aranda as he positioned himself near the netting in front of the stands.
Given new life, Contreras singled home Chourio. Garrett Mitchell added an RBI single later in the inning to cut Milwaukee’s deficit to 4-2.
“There’s a lot of respect there,” Mitchell said. “We know how great of a pitcher he is. … For us, it’s chipping one at-bat after another, passing it from one guy to the next, because it’s not going to be done in one pitch or one swing. It’s going to be quality at-bat after quality at-bat and kind of just trying to get his pitch count up.”
Even when Rasmussen retired the side in order in the second, Milwaukee took something out of him. Chourio ended that inning by grounding out on an 11-pitch plate appearance.
In the fourth, Rasmussen walked Cooper Pratt, who scored from third when David Hamilton’s RBI grounder to first went through Aranda’s legs for an error. Rasmussen left after issuing a two-out walk to Bauers on his 89th pitch.
Tampa Bay still led 4-3 when Rasmussen left the game, but the Rays made too many mistakes to stay in front.
Liam Hicks got thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on Victor Mesa Jr.’s sixth-inning single to shallow left field. Rays reliever Ian Seymour allowed Milwaukee to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth on a solo shot by Sal Frelick, whose last regular-season homer had come on July 11. Yandy Díaz, who has gone 0 for 9 the last two games, ended this one by striking out to strand the potential tying run at third.
Rays third baseman Junior Caminero screamed in the dugout after Milwaukee had rallied to tie the game.
“Just trying to create some energy and get some life back into us,” Caminero said through an interpreter.
The Rays still have some life left in them, but they blew a golden opportunity to even this series with a four-run lead and their ace on the mound. They understand what’s at stake as the series heads to Tampa Bay.
“Obviously, we’re excited to head back home,” said Rasmussen, who went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA during the regular season. “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.”
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