MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 27, 2026

Drew Rasmussen

Tropicana Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Just in your analysis when you go back and looked at your start the other night and whatever data you guys go over, was there anything that you noticed besides -- I know initially you said just weren't crisp, weren't sharp -- was there anything else that appeared to you or showed up?

DREW RASMUSSEN: Yeah, I didn't throw strike 1 enough. That's the same message I preach every time I throw the ball. If you can throw strike 1, you can sprint to two strikes and you can expand with two strikes, you're going to have a lot of success.

The group we're playing, they make really good decisions at the plate, which really forces you to be in the zone early. It becomes pivotal, and it just becomes that much more important.

Q. Kind of along those lines, we know how much preparation you do. With everything you watched before the Brewers heading into this, is there anything they've done in these games that surprises you, or just that they're executing and playing at the plate?

DREW RASMUSSEN: I think they've done a really good job of executing their plan. It's a really talented group. I just said their decision-making is off the charts and has been all year. That wasn't a surprise. Their bat-to-ball ability has been unbelievable, and once again, it has been all year. So that's not really a surprise either.

Q. Kind of a two-part. One is do you think to this point the results are a product of you guys maybe not playing as well as you typically have on both sides of the ball or what they've been doing to you?

DREW RASMUSSEN: I mean, a combination of both. That's a really talented group that we're playing against. In all honesty, they've outperformed us in all three facets of the game. I think they've pitched better than us. I think they've done better offensively. And I think they've played better defense than we have.

On the flip side, I think we've played really tight these first three games, and I think if we just loosen up and find a way to relax and just go about our business -- I'm never going to guarantee results. I would never do that. I haven't done that once this year. It's no time to start now. I definitely think the product on the field that we'd be putting out there would be a lot better.

Q. Why do you think you guys have played tight?

DREW RASMUSSEN: That's a great question. I wish I had an answer for you. Yeah, like I said, I wish I had an answer to that question. I think if I did, things would have been -- I think we would have been able to loosen up in Game 2 or 3. I think unfortunately no one has the answer to that question right now.

Q. You mentioned loosening up. Having a result like yesterday, does that help maybe guys can come in and say, hey, it's time to just -- backs up against the wall, just have fun with it?

DREW RASMUSSEN: Yeah, I hope so. Obviously yesterday's result was not great. Once again, I don't think anyone's proud of the way that we played yesterday, and I do think that, as a group, we understand where we're at. We understand that we're going to have to play to the best of our capabilities to stay alive. If you don't, this team, Milwaukee, they will suffocate you.

Like I said, it's one of those things that we understand what we need to do, and we understand the expectation we have on ourselves and the caliber of baseball we can play. Now we've just got to reach our expectations.

Q. Drew, you've seen obviously this season that you guys can win in bunches. Obviously a different situation, this being a potential elimination game. But what is the belief in that clubhouse that one win, just one win can kind of snowball into a couple?

DREW RASMUSSEN: Yeah, we've gone on long stretches of winning a lot. So I think it's one of those things that, yeah, just see one go through the net and you know the floodgates can open.

But like I said, we have to play up to the precedent that we've set for ourselves, and we've yet to do that. Like I said, this group we're playing is really good as well. If you don't play up to your expectations -- I think I just said that -- they'll suffocate you.

Q. When you talk about the way they play, the ability to suffocate you and do that, is there any other team that you guys faced or have faced in your career that's quite like this?

DREW RASMUSSEN: Not off the top of my head. Maybe the '21 -- I think like the '21 Red Sox, those '21-'22 Astros. Those teams come to mind. The starting pitching is really good, the bullpen is incredible. They don't really make defensive mistakes at all. They're aggressive on the base pads. They have really good plans at the plate, and they're executing them right now.

Like I said, there's very few groups, but those ones are so far back that I'm just having a hard time thinking of something off the top of my head.

Q. Obviously it must be hard to play that way or else more teams would do it, I guess, but do you think what they're showing -- and also what you guys are showing this year -- can change the way some teams can try to win games?

DREW RASMUSSEN: Yeah, I definitely think the product of baseball that both sides play -- A, I do think you can replicate it. I just think it's the natural ebbs and flows of how this industry works, where we kind of go on eight- to ten-year stretches of one way of winning is predominantly what everyone's trying to do. And for the last decade or so, it's been can we hit the long ball and strike people out on the mound.

Like I said, the game has ebbs and flows in the industry across the board, and now I think you're just starting to see it swing back in the other direction.

Q. What would it mean for you to just get another shot to pitch in the World Series, especially after how things went in Game 2?

DREW RASMUSSEN: Yeah, I'd be really excited for the opportunity. I'm not overly pleased with how things went in Milwaukee the other day for me myself, and so I guess at this point we're just hopeful that I get another chance to start.