TAMPA -- When Drew Rasmussen stepped into the Rays' dugout at George M. Steinbrenner after the third inning Monday night, he was not happy.
For starters, Rasmussen -- putting together an All-Star worthy first half -- had just put the Rays in a four-run hole against the Athletics, matching the most runs he’s given up all season. And shortly after walking off the field, manager Kevin Cash told him that his night was over despite having thrown only 54 pitches.
Rasmussen was not injured. The Rays are simply being mindful of his workload, expecting to limit him to 150 innings in his return to the rotation after three major elbow surgeries.
“We had an adult conversation, as we like to say back in my house,” Rasmussen said. “It's just one of those things where he explained, with where my pitch count was at and how hard I had to work there in the first and the third, that they thought it was best for me to be a little short today. … It’s frustrating. Our offense and bullpen picked me up, but it is just one of those things.”
The Rays eased some concerns with a four-run fourth inning highlighted by Junior Caminero’s 21st homer and RBI singles by Jonathan Aranda and José Caballero. They had a chance to pull ahead in the eighth, putting two runners on with nobody out, but Caminero grounded into a double play and Brandon Lowe was cut down at the plate on a tremendous throw by debuting left fielder Colby Thomas.
The A’s finally ended the stalemate, as closer Pete Fairbanks gave up a tiebreaking two-run triple to Lawrence Butler in the ninth inning of the Rays’ 6-4 loss.
“Frustrating to not finish it off tonight, but you know, that happens,” Fairbanks said. “You're going to give up the hits. You're going to take the loss every now and then. But we'll be right back at it and continue to throw the ball over the plate.”
The Rays (47-38) have lost back-to-back games for the first time since June 10-11 and consecutive home games for the first time since May 11-19. The series opener was also the first game they’ve played that was decided by two runs or fewer since June 13, snapping a franchise-record streak of 15 straight games with a margin of three runs or more.
After three innings, it didn’t necessarily look like it would be that close. Former Rays left-hander Jacob Lopez retired Tampa Bay’s first 10 hitters in order, and Rasmussen was uncharacteristically off.
The Rays had won seven of the right-hander’s past eight starts, and he went 6-1 with a 1.62 ERA and nearly as many strikeouts (37) as baserunners (41) during that stretch. But the A’s put together a two-out rally in the first inning, as Brent Rooker doubled and Nick Kurtz walked before Shea Langeliers hit a homer to left-center.
“He sets the bar really, really high,” Cash said. “I mean, we've kind of all grown to expect he's going to go out there and just dominate, and it's not that easy. It's not as easy as he's made it look.”
Still, it would have surprised nobody if Rasmussen had grinded through another four innings with minimal damage. He breezed through the second, then limited the A’s to just one run in the third despite giving up three straight hits to begin the inning.
“Over the course of the year, you're going to have some really good outings, but you're also going to have some really bad ones,” Rasmussen said. “I think everyone plays this game with that understanding, at least every starting pitcher that I know. And unfortunately, today was one of the bad ones.”
Then came the tough conversation marking the end of his shortest non-opener start since an outing similar to this one, when the Rays pulled him after three hitless, healthy innings in Detroit on Aug. 7, 2022.
“I mean, rather than grind through two more innings to get through five, just felt like, 'Hey, maybe we can reset it right here,' and knew that we had coverage in the bullpen,” Cash said. “The bullpen did a tremendous job of keeping right there.”
Rasmussen commended Cash for the way he handled the situation, but he admitted it might take until Tuesday before he can move past the frustration and take the long view regarding his workload and the way the night played out.
“The first thing Cashy did was ask me to take a breath and let's have a conversation, so we did,” he said. “You don't want to be taken out of games, especially not after three innings, not as a starter. But yeah, like I said, just kind of frustrated with how the night went in general.”