Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen pitches against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Rasmussen took a perfect game into the ninth inning as the Rays won, 4-1. Steve Nesius/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Drew Rasmussen took a perfect game into the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays expanded their lead over Baltimore for the final AL wild card to 1 1/2 games with a 4-1 victory over the Orioles on Sunday.
Rasmussen (7-4) allowed his first base runner when Jorge Mateo doubled down the left-field line on the first pitch of the ninth. Mateo, who went 5 for 5 on Friday night, later scored on a Rasmussen wild pitch.
The right-hander struck out seven in the longest outing of his career. He threw 62 of 87 pitches for strikes.
Jason Adam got two outs for his sixth save, finishing a one-hitter.
Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman flew out to the warning track in center in the first inning. Former Rays outfielder Brett Phillips had a hard drive buzz Rasmussen with two outs in the sixth, but shortstop Taylor Walls fielded the ball and threw to first for the out.
Rasmussen was coming off three no-hit innings in his previous start Aug, 7 at Detroit, an abbreviated outing to manage his workload for the season. His longest career start had been seven innings, on June 4 against the Chicago White Sox.
There hasn’t been a perfect game in the majors since Seattle’s Felix Hernandez accomplished the feat at home against the Rays on Aug. 15, 2012.
Tampa Bay has never thrown a perfect game. Matt Garza has the only Rays no-hitter, on July 26, 2010, at Tropicana Field against Detroit.
Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer off Jordan Lyles (9-9) with two out in the third. Arozarena has 15 homers and 38 RBI in 37 games against Baltimore.
GUARDIANS 7, BLUE JAYS 2: Shane Bieber pitched seven innings to win his fourth straight start, matching the longest winning streak of his career, Amed Rosario homered and Cleveland won at Toronto.
Rosario went 3 for 4 with a walk, two RBI and three runs scored. Owen Miller had two doubles and Austin Hedges drove in a pair as the AL Central leaders won for the seventh time in eight games. Cleveland’s season-high, six-game winning streak was snapped in Saturday’s 2-1 loss.
Bieber (8-6) allowed two runs and eight hits as he equaled a four-game winning streak from June 17 to July 3, 2018. He walked none and struck out six.
ASTROS 6, ATHLETICS 3: Cristian Javier threw six shutout innings, Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer and the Houston swept visiting Oakland.
Bregman’s homer against Cole Irvin (6-10) was his second straight day with a two-run shot in the first inning. He also hit an RBI double in the seventh.
Jose Altuve doubled home two runs in the second inning as the AL West leaders built a big early lead in their fourth consecutive victory.
Javier (7-8) allowed one single and walked three in his first win since July 1. He was 0-5 with a 4.40 ERA in his previous six starts.
WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 3: AJ Pollock and Andrew Vaughn homered, Lance Lynn threw six solid innings and Chicago completed a three-game sweep against visiting Detroit.
Pollock, Eloy Jimenez and Jose Abreu each had two hits for the White Sox, who remained 2 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.
RANGERS 5, MARINERS 3: Corey Seager doubled twice and scored twice, including the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning, as Texas won at home.
Seager doubled to left field with two outs in the seventh, reached third on a wild pitch by Matt Brash (3-4) and scored on Adolis Garcia’s single.
ANGELS 4, TWINS 2: Tucker Davidson pitched six innings of four-hit ball for his first Angels win, Luis Rengifo had a two-run double and Los Angeles won back-to-back series for the first time in three months, beating visiting Minnesota.
Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Twins, who have lost five of six overall to fall 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland atop the AL Central.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PADRES 6, NATIONALS 0: Blake Snell struck out 10 in six sharp innings, Juan Soto reached base three times and San Diego wrapped up a hectic weekend with a win at Washington.
On Friday, with so much focus on Soto’s return to Washington after a major trade this month, the Padres found out star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had been suspended 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
Then Saturday, San Diego Manager Bob Melvin was upset with a disputed call at home plate in a one-run loss.
Sunday was smoother all around because of Snell (5-6), who threw his longest scoreless outing since going seven innings on Aug. 31, 2021. He allowed three hits and walked none.
CARDINALS 6, BREWERS 3: Albert Pujols homered twice and Miles Mikolas tossed eight effective innings, helping St. Louis win at home.
Dylan Carlson and Tyler O’Neill also connected for St. Louis, which pushed its NL Central lead over Milwaukee to 1 1/2 games.
Carlson broke a 2-all tie with his eighth homer of the season, a drive to left against Taylor Rogers (1-6) in the eighth.
Pujols hit a solo shot in the second and a three-run drive in the eighth to give him 689 career homers. It was his 63rd career multihomer game.
METS 6, PHILLIES 0: Chris Bassitt hurled five scoreless innings, Francisco Lindor set the franchise record for RBI by a shortstop and New York won at home for its 17th victory in 20 games.
Burly slugger Daniel Vogelbach homered and Mark Canha had two hits for New York, which moved 35 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1988 season.
The Mets posted their second straight shutout and stayed 5 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta atop the NL East. The Mets and Braves open a four-game series in Atlanta beginning Monday.
BRAVES 3, MARLINS 1: Rookie Michael Harris II hit a tying homer in the ninth, William Contreras had a go-ahead single and Atlanta rallied at Miami, for a sweep of the four-game series.
The Braves won their sixth straight after losing four of five against the NL East-leading New York Mets.
REDS 8, CUBS 5: Jose Barrero hit a tiebreaking RBI single in Cincinnati’s three-run fifth inning, and the Reds stopped a five-game slide with a victory over visiting Chicago.
Aristides Aquino hit a three-run homer for Cincinnati, and Austin Romine doubled home two runs. It was Aquino’s first homer since he hit two against the Cubs on May 23.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, ROCKIES 4: Christian Walker had four hits, including a 460-foot homer, and drove in four runs, leading Arizona to a win at Denver.
Walker hit two doubles along with his 27th home run.
GIANTS 8, PIRATES 7: Thairo Estrada hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning as San Francisco edged Pittsburgh.
Bryan Reynolds homered, doubled and drove in five runs for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row. They went 2-8 on a road trip that covered nearly 6,000 miles from Baltimore to Arizona to San Francisco.
INTERLEAGUE
ROYALS 4, DODGERS 0: Brady Singer pitched six dominant innings and Kansas City won at home, ending the Dodgers’ 12-game winning streak.
A day after hitting six home runs in a romp, the Dodgers were held to two hits.
The Dodgers were trying to match their longest winning streak since moving to Los Angeles, having won 13 straight in both 1962 and 1965. The franchise record is 15 in a row set in 1924 while the team played in Brooklyn.
Singer (6-4) allowed one hit, struck out seven and walked three.
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