Drew Rasmussen Dominates Yankees as Rays Take Game 1 of ALDS

The Tampa Bay Rays got a huge win to begin the American League Division Series as they took down the New York Yankees 1-0 at Tropicana Field. 

The victory is pivotal for the team as it looks to move on to the ALCS, since winning Game 1 in a best-of-five postseason series has led to a series win 73% of the time in MLB playoff history.  

Here is what you need to know from the contest. 

It was a brilliant outing for Drew Rasmussen to begin the series for the Tampa Bay Rays. He started with a three-pitch strikeout to Yankees slugger Ben Rice and didn't look back after that. 

The Tampa Bay pitcher led a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and slowed down the Yankees, who put up 18 runs over two games in the wild card round against the Boston Red Sox. 

Rasmussen finished the day with 10 strikeouts over 8 innings of work and allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks on 101 pitches.

"He was dominant before the break," Cash said. "He's elite all season long. He's really done that since he's been a Tampa Bay Ray, coming over here, and his contributions. Feels like he continues to get better." 

There was only one run in this game, and it came on the very first postseason hit in the career of Jonathan Aranda. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Aranda took Geritt Cole deep for a no-doubt 417-foot home run.

Other than Aranda's long ball, the Rays' offense was very limited and held to five hits in the contest. The team was also 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. 

It's very likely that this series will be a very low-scoring affair. The main question will be: Can the Rays' pitching staff continue to keep it that way? 

The Yankees' starting pitching has been dominant over the last few weeks and is seen as the top pitching staff in MLB heading into the postseason. They proved they could keep the scoring low in the wild card round, and I expect that to continue in the ALDS. The Rays' batting order will have to find a way to take Advantage of every opportunity as they look to move on and fight for their first-ever World Series title.

Game 2 will be on Monday, with Freddy Peralta taking the starting nod on the mound. The September American League Pitcher of the Month will go against AL Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler. First pitch is scheduled for 8 pm Eastern.