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Rasmussen Flirts With a No-Hitter, White Sox Blank Guardians as Division Series Opens
Three of October's four Division Series openers went to the favorites Saturday, with a near-no-hitter in Tampa and a laugher on the South Side headlining the day.
Drew Rasmussen took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 1-0 in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday, kicking off a day in which two of October's four series openers were decided by shutout.
Rasmussen worked 7 2/3 hitless innings and tied a Rays postseason record with 10 strikeouts before Austin Wells broke it up with a two-out double in the eighth — only to be thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Jonathan Aranda's solo home run was the only run Tampa Bay needed, and Bryan Baker closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth. The Yankees managed just one hit, the fewest in a single postseason game in the storied franchise's 447-game playoff history, by far the most of any team in baseball.
Chicago, Los Angeles Also Take Openers
In Chicago, the White Sox blanked the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 behind Munetaka Murakami's two-run homer and a five-pitcher combined three-hitter. Murakami drove a first-pitch elevated sinker 440 feet into the right-field stands for his first career postseason home run, and Colson Montgomery added an RBI double. The five Chicago arms combined for 12 strikeouts; Cleveland went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded in back-to-back innings.
In Los Angeles, Tarik Skubal allowed just one run over six innings and Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy all went deep as the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 in temperatures that topped 100 degrees at Dodger Stadium. Braves starter Dylan Dodd opened with three scoreless innings before Atlanta's bullpen cracked in the fourth, and a late rally — Ozzie Albies' two-run homer off Tanner Scott in the ninth — pulled the Braves within two before Evan Phillips closed it out.
ONE HIT. FEWEST IN YANKEES POSTSEASON HISTORY.
The fourth series, Padres-Brewers in Milwaukee, rounded out Saturday's slate, with that opener still unfolding as of this writing.
What's next: Game 2 of the Rays-Yankees series is set for Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field, with New York needing a response after the quietest offensive day in franchise postseason history. Chicago and Los Angeles both look to go 2-0 at home before their series shift on the road.