TAMPA, Fla. – Glenn Frey’s 40-year-old hit, ‘The Heat is On,’ appropriately played between the fourth and fifth innings of the Rays’ 5-0 win over the Twins on Wednesday afternoon. After all, while first-pitch temperature was a bearable 89 degrees, the dew point was a hefty 73, making things rather uncomfortable for the season-low announced crowd of 8,372. While the real feel soared to 102 by the late innings, the Rays applied plenty of heat during a homestand in which they went 7-2.
Drew Rasmussen had a third straight outing of six shutout innings, Brandon Lowe put the Rays on the board with a homer leading off the fourth, and three batters later, Junior Caminero blasted a two-run shot to make it 3-0.
The Rays, who moved back above .500 (28-27) and came within one (18-19) of the break-even mark at Steinbrenner Field, are 12-6 in their last 18.
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“We have a very good team here, and some of our play early on was not representative of what we can do,” said Lowe, who extended his hit streak to 11 games, one shy of his career best.
Trevor Larnach led off the game by lining a single to right. That was the only hit off Rasmussen, who threw 74 pitches and improved to 4-4 with a 2.33 ERA that is seventh in the American League heading into Tuesday evening’s games. Not that he is alone in his effort. Indeed, the righthander’s outing marked the seven straight in which a Rays’ starting pitcher allowed no more than two earned runs.
“The tone is set by the starting pitcher and I think the bullpen feeds off of it,” said Rasmussen, whose workload in being monitored after returning late last season from a third elbow procedure. “If we can go out and do our job well and keep us in the game, then late in the game our bullpen, which is unbelievable, gives us a great chance to win.”
The Rays travel to Houston, where they begin a four-game series Thursday night. Shane Baz (4-3, 4.94) will be opposed by righthander Ryan Gusto (3-2, 4.58). Following a day off on Monday, it is back to Steinbrenner Field for a six-game homestand that gets underway Tuesday night for the first of three games against the Rangers, followed by a weekend series with the Marlins.
Thaiss in, Rortvedt out
An emotional Ben Rortvedt stood in front of his stall in the Rays’ clubhouse Tuesday evening talking about how much he appreciated his 14 months with the team. The 27-year-old catcher became the odd man out after left-handed hitting Matt Thaiss was acquired earlier in the day from the White Sox for minor league outfielder Dru Baker. That created an odd situation with Rortvedt, knowing he was on the way out, starting and playing the entirety of a 4-3 loss to the Twins, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2021.
“I’m extremely grateful,” said Rortvedt, who was acquired 24 hours before last Opening Day from the Yankees in a three-team deal that also involved the Marlins. “Can’t say enough about the organization, about the people here. The opportunity to be able to grow, to be able to be myself in the clubhouse, to be accepted the way I was, it’s meant a lot.”
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Rortvedt, who was designated for assignment, hit .340 in March/April last season and was at .268 before play July 1. He hit .137 since, including .093 (6-for-63) this season.
“He’s a great teammate who really cared a lot about his teammates and helping pitchers get through games,” said manager Kevin Cash. “The way he handled yesterday, a very unique circumstance, I had a lot of respect for him before that and that much more after.”
Thaiss, who has also played first and third, is an Indian Shores resident who helped lead Virginia to a national title in 2015. He was selected 16th overall by the Angels the following spring and spent parts of five seasons (2019-24) with L.A. before being dealt in November to the Cubs, who shipped him to the White Sox a month later. Thaiss’ career slash line is .209/.321/.337 in 280 games, including hitting .212 in 85 at-bats with Chicago this season.
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