Rangers Get To Drew Rasmussen Early, Rip Rays 9-5 in Series Opener
ARLINGTON, Texas — There were a lot of rare things that went on in Monday night's Tampa Bay game at Texas, and all of them lined up against the Rays. That led to a 9-5 Rangers win in a game that got out of hand very early, the first of the four-game series.
It started right off the bat in the first inning. Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi hit a ball deep to right, but Rangers center fielder Eli White jumped high over the wall to steal a sure homer.
“That was definitely the best play I’ve ever made,” said White, who came up through the minors as a middle infielder. “It was the kind of play I’ve been dreaming about making ever since I've made the transition to outfield.” (Note: See highlights below)
Then in the bottom of the inning, there was another first. Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who's been lights out lately and one of the most consistent starters in the game, walked the first three batters he faced. That's never happened before either. He gave up two runs in the inning.
Then White, who was hitting .184 on the season, hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. That's plus-two and minus three in the impact category for White.
Rasmussen also gave up a home run to catcher Jonah Heim in the third inning, and his night was done. He trailed 5-1 and lasted just three innings.
White, clearly, had a lot to do with that deficit.
“If there was any sign that the night wasn't going to go our way, maybe that should have been it,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Ji-Man got a lot of that baseball.”
It was a tough outing for Rasmussen. He has never giving up five runs in a game before, and never walked the first three batters in a game. The Rays were 8-1 in his starts this season, and he had allowed just three earned runs in his last five starts.
The Rangers blew the game open in the sixth when they scored four runs off of struggling reliever Ryan Thompson. He gave up three singles and a double and also made an error.
The Rays, trailing 9-2 at the time, did scratch out three runs in the seventh with a double by Isaac Paredes and consecutive singles by Kevin Kiermaier, Wander Franco and Randy Arozarena. They did all the damage against Matt Moore, who pitched for the Rays from 2011-16.
There was some bad news for the Rays in the ninth inning when Franco came up lame again after a single, suffering more quad tightness. He has been dealing with quad and hamstring tightness in both legs most of the season, but it's the right quad that's been the problem most recently.
It was a bad ending for Franco, who's been struggling at the plate but went 3-for-4 on Monday.
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— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) May 31, 2022
Wander Franco walks off the field. pic.twitter.com/qkf5tErsNj
It was another series-opening loss for the Rays, who are 6-10 in those games and 22-10 otherwise. The second game is Tuesday night, starting at 8:10 p.m. ET.
Related stories on Rays baseball
- ROB A HOMER, HIT A HOMER: Rangers outfielder Eli White had a huge stamp on Monday's game, stealing a three-run homer from the Rays' Ji-Man Choi and then hitting a two-run homer himself. Highlights worth seeing. CLICK HERE
- FROM LAST PITCH TO FIRST: Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen took us behind the scenes, showing us all of the dozens of hours of work that go into getting his body ready for a start. We track his actions from the last pitch of a start to the first one of the next start. To read Tom Brew's takeout, CLICK HERE
- JUST FOR STARTERS: Here's the breakdown on Drew Rasmussen's start on Monday, the worst of his career with the Rays. Total numbers for the entire rotation in 2022 as well. CLICK HERE
- RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 baseball schedule for the Tampa Bay Rays, with dates, locations and gametimes. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.