ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Eyes red and voice soft, Drew Rasmussen stood in front of his locker.
“Failure sucks. And to be this close, it's really, really hard,” the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher said. “That's the best team I've played at the major league level.”
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Predicted by many to finish at or near the bottom of the AL East, the Rays reached the World Series for the third time but remain without a title. Their year ended Wednesday night with a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 5, leaving them among four teams without a title along with Colorado, San Diego and Seattle.
“They’re banged up and hurting right now,” manager Kevin Cash said of his players.
An expansion team that started in 1998, the Rays also lost in the World Series to Philadelphia in 2008 and to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. The only other clubs to lose in their first three Series appearances were the Brooklyn Dodgers (0-7) and Detroit Tigers (0-4), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“It hurts knowing that you got this close, you got this far," closer Bryan Baker said.
A 31-year-old right-hander who has had three major elbow operations, Rasmussen started on short rest and allowed one run and two hits over four innings. He left with a 1-0 deficit.
After the final out, Rays players stayed in their dugout to watch the Brewers celebrate.
“It should be motivating, right?” Baker said. “You got to use this motivation to keep working.”
Tampa Bay led the AL East from mid-May and topped the American League with 98 wins.
“We didn't end at the bottom of the division,” Yandy Díaz, who has been with the Rays since 2019, said through a translator. “Those papers at the beginning of the year, those projections at the beginning of a year, we had the chance to rip them and we did.”
Tampa Bay has a $20 million option on Rasmussen, while right-handers Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez are eligible to become free agents.
“We’re scrappy. We fought hard all year,” Baker said. “We’ve picked ourselves up off the canvas and fought tooth and nail to be here.”
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