The two biggest pitching-gaps

@Way2Good

 That was the good Flaherty. This version of Flaherty is trash. This is Browns 3rd start back from injury, he should be much better. 

@LVTruck

 Good luck today man! I received a $55 ticket to the main event.. a poker tournament on betonline got it in QQ vs 88 and river 8 of clubs pretty as you please... Ooof.

Hope to see you clean up today for the good guys! 

@LVTruck

Rasmussen gets through Marte, Perdomo, and Carroll on 8 pitches. That’s exactly what we needed  clean, efficient, no traffic, no stress.

Now Tampa gets first crack at Merrill Kelly with the top of the order:

Yandy  Aranda  Caminero

Good. Yandy leadoff single that’s exactly the traffic we wanted.

Now it’s Aranda / Caminero with a man on

First and second, nobody out  Kelly is already in trouble

Yandy single
Aranda walk
Caminero RBI hit
1-0 Tampa, first and second, nobody out.

not the knockout inning we wanted, but it still did the job.

Rays get one, Kelly shows immediate traffic, and Tampa is playing from in front

Pavin Smith doubled, but Rasmussen worked out of it and sits at just 20 pitches through two. We’ve got the 1-0 lead, he’s efficient, and Kelly has already shown traffic.

Now we just need Tampa to make Kelly work again and tack on

There it is  Cedric Mullins solo shot.

2-0 Rays, 2nd innin

@LVTruck

 amazing work buddy! I got Rays -1.5 fg. 

@PizzaBoyRick

 and so is Hunter Brown, he is limited to 85-90 pitches after his injury and Flaherty is doing so far so good keeping the Astros at bay. I took a stab with NRFI and won. we are off to a great start today. 

3-0 Rays
5 hits already off Kelly
Yandy, Caminero, Mullins all with RBIs.
Rasmussen: 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs.

This is exactly  the cap . Kelly is leaking contact, Tampa is cashing early, and Rasmussen has room to work

Rasmussen is at 24 pitches, working clean and efficient. We’ve got the 3-0 lead  now it’s simple no free passes, no crooked innings, no bullshit.

The f5 -0.5 looking easy! Damn I should have took a bite. 

Rasmussen: 30 pitches, 24 strikes, 6 balls. That’s 80% strikes, which is exactly what we want with a 3-0

That was the first real danger spot, and Rasmussen pulled the great escape. He’s given us zeros, and I still feel good about the first five, but 53 pitches through three means we need a clean fourth.

Now would be a beautiful time for Tampa to tack one on and give us a little more breathing room

We’re through 3 with a 3-0 lead, but Rasmussen is at 53 pitches, so the only thing we need right now is a clean, low-stress 4th

Ideal

10–13 pitches
No walks
No long at-bats
No traffic
Get him to the 5th around 65–68

This is the stress spot

Holy shit  that was Houdini twice now

3-0 Rays through 4. That’s the only thing that matters

Rasmussen is at 69 pitches, the pitch count is high, but now we only need three more outs

Tampa tacks on one more
Rasmussen gets a clean 5th
No walks, no bullshit, just three outs

Rasmussen is back out for the fifth Now it’s real simple three outs for the good guys. No crooked inning, no free passes, no bullshit.

Get us out of here, pull a couple bags off the matinee, and call it a day.

One more out

@LVTruck

 Nice job man! 

Rasmussen getting through five at 86 pitches was not a gem  that was an uncut gem.

It got a little ugly, he had to Houdini his way out of a couple jams, but he kept the scoreboard clean when it mattered. Thank you for the escape act, and thank you for letting us secure a couple bags on the matinee.

Rays F5  cashed