Drew Rasmussen's bid for history fell agonizingly short, but the Tampa Bay Rays are just fine with Saturday's result.
Rasmussen lost his no-hitter after 7 2/3 innings, but Austin Wells' baserunning blunder ensured the Yankees stayed scoreless as the Rays beat New York 1-0 in Game 1 of their ALDS.
Wells broke up the no-no by ripping a double down the right-field line with two outs in the eighth inning. However, he was thrown out at third to end the frame after trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
Austin Wells records the Yankees first hit of the game and gets thrown out at third base! pic.twitter.com/17ZbkSDTkg
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 4, 2026
"Obviously, not a good decision there," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game, according to SNY. "Not sure if he saw something on his way between first and second that caused him to go there. Obviously, a mistake there."
Wells admitted postgame his mistake was costly.
"That wins and loses games," he said. "I think you have to take risks, but in that situation the risk was wrong ... Took the risk, it didn't work out, but I needed to try and make something happen there. Obviously, it didn't work out."
Only three no-hitters have ever happened in postseason history: Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, Roy Halladay's no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS, and the Houston Astros' combined no-no in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series.
Rasmussen had retired 15 straight batters prior to Wells' hit.
Tampa Bay's ace tallied 10 strikeouts to just two walks, along with the one hit, over his eight innings of work. Rasmussen's 10 Ks tied a Rays single-game playoff record set by Tyler Glasnow in the 2020 ALDS against the Yankees.
Jonathan Aranda provided the Rays' only offense on Saturday with his third-inning homer off Yankees starter Gerrit Cole.
Bryan Baker retired New York in order in the top of the ninth to record the save.
