The Rays have had pretty good success against Gerrit Cole — that is outside of his shutdown 2019 ALDS performance. But tonight he was on his game, aided by a generous strikezone to be sure but he was indeed sharp and kept the Rays from getting much going. I don’t tend to be a pessimistic sort of fan but this game felt like one where the bounces — and calls — would go against the Rays.
The Rays got the no-hitter monkey off their backs in the first inning with a Harold Ramirez single. And in the bottom of the inning, prevented the Yankees from getting their first hit with an unbelievable 6-3 ground-out that involved Taylor Walls at short moving seemingly a few miles to his left to grab a ball destined for the outfield, and Ji-Man Choi grabbing his throw with a classic split.