Drew Rasmussen’s Game 2: Nine Two-Strike Fouls and Four Strikeouts

Jackson Chourio reached a two-strike count after two pitches in the second inning of World Series Game 2. Drew Rasmussen still needed nine more deliveries to finish the at-bat. Chourio fouled off five of them, including three cutters, before grounding a sinker to second base on pitch 11.

That confrontation helps explain the work behind Rasmussen’s 89 pitches and 11 outs against Milwaukee on October 24. The Rays starter struck out four, allowed six hits and two walks, and was charged with three runs. Tampa Bay ultimately lost 5–4 at American Family Field.

The useful distinction is between reaching two strikes and finishing the plate appearance. Fourteen of Rasmussen’s 20 batters reached a two-strike count. Those situations accounted for 35 physical pitches, including nine fouls that kept at-bats going. This study examines that defined portion of his Game 2 pitch record.

What happened after the second strike

Rasmussen recorded all four strikeouts on swinging third strikes. Three came on four-seam fastballs; Christian Yelich’s third-inning strikeout ended on a changeup. His six cutters with two strikes produced three fouls and three balls, with no completed plate appearance on any of them.

Chourio supplied five of the nine two-strike fouls. His long second-inning at-bat therefore accounts for more than half that foul total. The workload was concentrated enough that it should not be read as evidence that every Milwaukee hitter repeatedly extended a two-strike confrontation.

Contact also finished hitters

Five of the eight balls put in play with two strikes became outs. The other three produced two singles and a fielding error. Those five contact outs matter when judging the finishing pitches: a missed bat was only one route to a completed out.

The 14 balls also had different consequences. Cooper Pratt and Jake Bauers both walked in the fourth inning after reaching two strikes. Rasmussen departed with two outs and the bases loaded; Cam Booser stranded all three inherited runners. The final pitching line therefore includes the resolved runners left at Rasmussen’s exit.

Sample and limits

The comparison is confined to count states within this appearance. The 35 two-strike pitches are separated from the other 54 pitches in the same start, using the count before each delivery. No regular-season or earlier postseason pitches are pooled into the sample, and no claim is made that this was a new or lasting pattern.

MLB’s official Game 2 feed supplies the events and classifications. Non-pitch events are excluded from physical pitch totals but retained when establishing counts. Download the 35-pitch sample CSV. Related studies are in the Pitching Data research log.