ST. PETERSBURG — For all the starting pitching injuries the Rays have sustained this year, from Jeffrey Springs to Drew Rasmussen to Shane McClanahan, remember this as the season’s stretch run heats up: They still have an ace up their sleeve.
Tyler Glasnow extended his streak of dominant performances with what he felt to be his best start of the season in Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over Boston on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field. Glasnow struck out a career-high-tying 14 batters while allowing only three hits over six innings on a season-high 103 pitches — a top-of-the-rotation performance by one of the game’s most talented arms.
“I hope I can do that a lot more,” Glasnow said, smiling.
Glasnow’s outing helped the Rays improve to 10-2 in their past 12 series, a stretch during which they have won 23 of 35 games. If this start was a sign of things to come, it’s a good one for him and the Rays.
- Games remaining: vs. SEA (4), at MIN (3), at BAL (4), vs. LAA (3), vs. TOR (3), at BOS (2), at TOR (3)
- Standings update: The Orioles hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Rays in the AL East. Tampa Bay remains the top AL Wild Card team, the club that gets to host a three-game Wild Card Series against the AL’s No. 5 seed.
Glasnow has put together plenty of impressive starts this season, including several in this streak with a career-best nine consecutive starts of at least six innings. But this one felt different, even by his standards.
The big right-hander said it was the first time all season he had his mechanics in line, his timing on point and both the carry and movement he wanted on all three of his pitches.
“It was a good game,” Glasnow said. “I think everything finally just felt good.”
It showed.
“It did look special,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Glasnow forced the Red Sox to swing and miss 22 times on the night, his third-highest total of the season. He had everything working, with his fastball running up to 99 mph, his curveball finishing five strikeouts and the Sox whiffing on 11 of the 16 swings they took against his slider.
“It’s terrifying as an opposing hitter,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “It’s somebody that I want to roll out there on the mound pretty much every day.”
Glasnow became the first player in team history to record multiple 14-strikeout games, as he also fanned 14 on April 12, 2021. The only other Tampa Bay pitchers to whiff at least 14 in a game are Chris Archer (15), James Shields (15) and David Price (14). Lance Lynn is the only pitcher to strike out more batters in a game this season, as he whiffed 16 Mariners for the White Sox on June 18.
The Rays backed Glasnow with enough run support to win for the 10th time in his 17 starts this season. Brandon Lowe, Tuesday night’s walk-off hero, stayed hot with a third-inning homer to right-center off Nick Pivetta. Isaac Paredes went deep to left in the fourth, his 28th homer of the season and the 50th of his career, and Harold Ramírez (celebrating his 29th birthday) doubled in another run in the fifth after barely missing a home run to center field.
The lone run Glasnow allowed came in the third inning, when Enmanuel Valdez singled and scored on a Connor Wong triple to right field. The only other hit Glasnow permitted was a first-inning Rafael Devers double off The Trop’s catwalks, and the only baserunner he allowed after that came on Trevor Story’s leadoff walk in the fifth.
“His stuff today was really electric,” Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas said. “We want to jump on the fastball, so when he starts throwing breaking pitches that are tunneling perfectly with the fastball — that’s why he’s one of the best pitchers in the game, because he’s able to do that.”
Standing in front of his locker after the game, Glasnow compared his performance multiple times to the way he pitched in 2021. He was arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball the first two months that year, until a season-ending injury that required Tommy John surgery.
After rehabbing most of last season, Glasnow returned for a few short outings. The Rays were discussing ways to manage his workload in Spring Training before he sustained a left oblique strain that ultimately sidelined him until May 27.
The silver lining from that news, frustrating as it was? The Rays didn’t have to worry about managing his workload anymore. When the games mattered most, he would be ready to go, free of restrictions.
Turns out, he might also be at his best when the Rays need him most.
“Look, you’ve got to have some dominant starting pitching to get where you want to get,” Cash said. “Certainly we want to play well here in September, and he’s a big part of that.”
