Drew Rasmussen Solid In Return, Rays Sweep Yankees With 5-4 Victory

Drew Rasmussen was reinstated from the family emergency list prior to the game and hadn’t pitched since April 1st. Despite the layoff, he stifled the Yankees through six innings and while the Rays pen wobbled they did not break as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees 5-4 in front of 20,796 at Tropicana Field.

Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 1.13 ERA) picks up the win and Mason Englert worked a stressful ninth earning his first career save as the Rays improve to 8-7 on the season. Rasmussen retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced, including each of the last 14. Cole Sulser allowed a pair of runs while retiring just one batter, Kevin Kelly worked 1.2-innings of scoreless ball, and Mason Englert allowed a pair of runs on an Aaron Judge homer in the ninth.

With the win the Rays move above .500 for the first time since September 5, 2025 (72-71) and can claim a share of first place since they were 4-1 on April 1, 2025. The victory marks the Rays first sweep of the Yankees since April 16 through 18, 2021 in the Bronx and their first sweep over New York at Tropicana Field since September 24 through 25, 2019 and first three game sweep over them at home since June 22 through 24, 2018.

Cam Schlittler (2-1, 2.49 ERA) takes the loss for the Yankees who lose their fifth in a row and fall to 8-7 on the season. All seven of the Yankees losses this season are by two runs or less, including six one run games. New York falls to 1-5 during a stretch where they will play 13 consecutive games without an off-day.

Rays Jump Out To Early Lead:

Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero opened the bottom of the first inning with singles. With one-out Yandy Diaz grounded into a force out to score Simpson from third and give the Rays the early 1-0 lead.

The Rays added to their lead in the bottom of the second inning. Cedric Mullins tripled to lead off the frame and scored on a fielders choice off the bat of Richie Palacios. Taylor Walls singled and stole second and scored on a 2-out RBI single off the bat of Chandler Simpson to push the Rays lead to 3-0.

Rasmussen Stifles Yankees

Drew Rasmussen held the Yankees scoreless through six innings allowing just one hit while striking out seven and walking none. He made 76 pitches with 51 for strikes.

Kevin Cash was very confident in Rasmussen. “It’s a big ask against that lineup but he does a good job.” Cash was impressed by his overall command. “I mean the command when you’re not on the mound for a period of time. He didn’t miss a beat executing pitches at a very high rate especially when he got to two strikes. He was totally locked in ready to go.”

Yankees Cut Lead In Seventh:

Cole Sulser replaced Drew Rasmussen in the top of the seventh inning and gave up a ground rule double to Ben Rice, walked Aaron Judge, and allowed an RBI single to Cody Bellinger as the Yankees trimmed the lead to 3-1. Kevin Kelly replaced Sulser with runners on second and third and one out. He induced a groundball to second base for the second out, however, Aaron Judge scored to cut the Rays lead to 3-2. Kelly was able to escape the inning while keeping the Rays lead at 3-2.

Rays Answer Back:

After the Yankees scored a pair in the top of the seventh to cut the Rays lead to 3-2, the Rays answered back to extend the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the frame. Chandler Simpson led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Junior Caminero.

Rays Use Small Ball To Tack On:

Jake Fraley singled and moved to second a sacrifice bunt by Cedric Mullins. Ben Williamson, pinch hitting for Richie Palacios singled to right advancing Fraley to 3rd. Fraley scored on a safety squeeze bunt by Taylor Walls to give the Rays a 5-2 lead.

Englert Wobbles, But Earns First Career Save:

Mason Englert entered in the ninth inning with the Rays holding a 5-2 lead. Ben Rice led off the inning with a single and Aaron Judge followed with a 2-run homer to cut the lead to 5-4. It was Judge’s 4th homer on the season. Englert came back to strike out Cody Bellinger and retired Jazz Chisholm on a groundout to second for the second out. Amed Rosario kept the rally going for the Yankees lining a double off the center field wall. Austin Wells was intentionally walked bringing Ryan McMahon to the plate. Englert induced McMahon to groundout to first to end the game.

Rays Roster Move:

Prior to the game, the Rays reinstated Drew Rasmussen off the family medical leave list and optioned left handed pitcher Joe Rock to their Triple-A affiliate Durham Bulls.

Up Next For Rays:

The Rays will have Monday off as they travel to Chicago to begun a six game road trip through Chicago and Pittsburgh. The road trip starts Tuesday evening in Chicago against the White Sox with first pitch slated from at 7:40 p.m. EST. Shane McClanahan (0-1, 4.15 ERA) will take the mound for Tampa Bay while the White Sox are expected to start rookie Noah Schultz making MLB debut.

Tampa Bay was 2-4 versus the White Sox in 2025, losing the rubber game in both three game series and are 4-9 in their last 13 head to head games. They have lost four of their last five series at Rate Field with the lone win coming April 27-30, 2023 (3 games to 1).