The Rays are back in the postseason for the first time since 2023 as the club rallied late against one of the better relievers in baseball in the 9th to walk off the Astros 3-1.
This game was two hours and twenty-two minutes long, but the 9th inning was the main event. Through the first eight innings, the teams combined for two runs coming off a sacrifice fly by Yanier Diaz in the 4th and yet another Victor Mesa home run in the 5th inning:
The Rays offense was not able to generate any other offense outside that solo shot against the quartet of Miguel Ullola, Bryan King, and Ethan Pecko, Pecko’s setup on the mound and his approach was reminiscent of how Robert Stock shut the Rays down in the last homestand. Rasmussen remained undefeated since the All-Star break even if the outing was a bit of a grind. He threw first pitch strikes to 15 of the 27 batters faced and scattered seven singles as well as a double to former Ray Isaac Paredes in the outing. He was behind in more counts than usual in his outing, but grinded through this outing with the help of a couple of timely double plays. The Rays remain undefeated in games when Rasmussen starts as he continues to embrace the role of staff ace in 2026.
Rasmussen gave way to Tyler Wells and Bryan Baker to get the last six outs and that duo permitted two runners to reach base while stranding them both to set up the 9th inning. Joe Espada brought in Bryan Abreu to begin the inning and had Josh Hader warming up, which we will revisit momentarily. Abreu entered this contest limiting hitters to a .187 average while striking out 30% of the batters he has faced.
Abreu struck out Yandy Diaz on a high inside fastball to get the first out. Jonathan Aranda then worked a 1-1 count and got a cutter that found too much of the plate and came within a foot of hitting a walk-off home run, instead settling for a double:
That brought Junior Caminero to the plate with a base open and Liam Hick on deck. Logic would have said to put Caminero on base and bring in Hader to either face Hicks or force Cash to likely pinch hit with Ryan Vilade. Hader has held hitters to a .114 average this season, but Espada stuck with Abreu who attempted to announce his presence with authority to Junior Caminero. Abreu chose poorly:
Caminero’s 40th home run on the season was his first career walkoff. He has now hit 40 home runs in consecutive seasons and is the first player in nearly 30 years with multiple 40+ homer seasons before the age of 24. It was a fun comeback with two well-struck baseballs in the 9th thereby equaling the team’s output through the first eight innings of the game. The Rays hold serve in the standings as the Yankees defeated the Mets in the first game of the Subway Series as they celebrate for one evening while staying focused on higher aspirations this month.
