Late-inning magic disappears as Rays fall to Brewers

TAMPA — Drew Rasmussen was mostly sharp. Mostly efficient. Mostly impressive.

And entirely frustrated.

The Rays right-hander has given up only 15 hits over his last three starts, but five of those hits have been home runs. The long ball plagued him again on Sunday in a 4-2 loss to the Brewers.

Rasmussen retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced before giving up back-to-back, opposite-field homers to Christian Yelich and William Contreras. For a pitcher who has been well below the major-league average rate for home runs in his career, it’s a somewhat perplexing trend.

As he was walking off the mound in the fourth, Rasmussen covered his face with his glove and let out an exasperated shout.

Of the first 93 batters Rasmussen faced in 2025, not a single ball left the park. Yet, over the next 64 batters, opponents have hit six homers. That means more than 50% of the runs scored against Rasmussen have been driven in by home runs.

The Rays took two out of three from the Brewers in the series, but it was a disappointing end considering they had a chance for a sweep.

Neither team led by more than a single run in the three games until the Brewers took a two-run lead in the eighth inning Sunday. The team trailing had come from behind to tie the game seven different times, and the winning run was scored in the eighth inning or later on Friday and Saturday.

The Rays had none of that magic on Sunday.

They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and hit into double plays in both the seventh and eighth innings.

Tampa Bay’s offense was powered early by the usual list of suspects. Chandler Simpson led off the first with a hustle double to centerfield and, two outs later, was driven in by a Jonathan Aranda line drive to left.

Aranda began the rally himself in the fourth with a leadoff single and moved to third on Kameron Misner’s single. Jose Caballero brought Aranda home with a sacrifice fly to deep center.

Monday: off

Next game: 7:07 Tuesday, at Blue Jays, Rogers Centre

Pitchers: Rays — RH Shane Baz (3-2, 4.93); Blue Jays — RH Jose Berrios (1-1, 3.86)

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Sun; 95.3-FM, 620-AM, 106.7-FM (Spanish)

Info: raysbaseball.com

On deck

Wednesday: at Blue Jays, 7:07. Rays, RH Ryan Pepiot (2-4, 3.86); Jays, RH Chris Bassitt (3-2, 3.35)

Thursday: at Blue Jays, 3:07. Rays, RH Zack Littell (2-5, 4.40); Jays, RH Kevin Gausman (3-3, 3.97)

Friday: at Marlins, 7:10. Rays, RH Taj Bradley (3-2, 4.24); Marlins, TBD

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Late-inning magic disappears as Rays fall to Brewers

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