The Rays opened up their short home stand with a frustrating 6-4 loss against the Oakland Sacramento Las Vegas Athletics. Rays starter Drew Rasmussen only went three innings, and Pete Fairbanks couldn’t keep the game tied in the ninth, and the offense could only muster runs in the fourth inning.
Jacob Lopez toed the rubber for the A’s. Lopez, an oft-forgotten piece in the Jeffrey Springs/Joe Boyle trade, has had an effective season for the boys in Sacramento, and looked like he might be in for a career-night in Tampa. He retired the first nine batters he faced and his team was up to an early 4-0 lead.
A’s vs Rays in an hour pic.twitter.com/GLzYfOBbrQ
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 30, 2025
Rasmussen definitely wasn’t sharp, but being pulled after three innings and 54 pitches seemed harsh. Marc Topkin let us in on a potential innings limit for Rasmussen, which is not surprising but the first time we’ve heard a number attached.
#Rays pull Rasmussen after 3 innings and 54 pitches, down 4-0 to #Athletics.
No indication of any injury, and he supposedly has a 150 innings limit for season – with 87.1 thrown – so likely related to that.— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 1, 2025
Note: Joe Boyle was used as a reliever in his last outing, coming in after an opener. Could we soon see him pitch behind Rasmussen?
Yandy Diaz picked up an infield single to lead off the eight inning and extend his on-base streak to 24 games. He was immediately lifted for Chandler Simpson.
The Rays had a chance to take the lead in the eighth, if not for a bullet from left fielder Colby Thomas in his big league debut.
Pete Fairbanks was not sharp, and ultimately picks up the loss. The A’s picked up two base hits to start the inning, before Lawrence Butler came through with a one-out, two-run triple that split outfielders Chandler Simpson and Jake Mangum, who both took questionable routes to the ball.
It wasn’t a good night for the All-Star campaigns of Rays pitchers Rasmussen and Fairbanks. It was much better for Aranda and Caminero. Aranda picked up a pair of hits and Caminero hit his team-leading 21st homer.
I think there’s a good chance we’ve already seen the best and worst of the 2025 Rays. What’s important is for us to see who they actually are in July. Ha-Seong Kim will join any day, Could more acquisitions be on the way via trade? For a Wild Card team, you wouldn’t push that many chips in. But for a team that can win the AL East and go on a deep October run, Sternberg may be willing to make one last splash at the deadline.