Glasnow 'outstanding,' tosses 'A stuff' in gem

ST. PETERSBURG -- Maybe it was the two extra days of rest between starts. Maybe it was facing a group of Nationals hitters who haven’t seen him much before. Maybe it was one of those nights where everything synced up for Tyler Glasnow. Or maybe this is just what we should expect from Glasnow every time he takes the mound.

The Rays’ ace once again worked deep into the game in dominant fashion on Tuesday night, striking out 11 over seven innings in Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over Washington at Tropicana Field. It was the Rays’ 20th win in their last 24 games since May 13, bringing their American League-best record to 39-23.

Pitching for the first time in a week as the Rays look for ways to manage his workload without cutting his outings short, Glasnow put together his seventh double-digit strikeout start of the season -- breaking a tie with Cleveland’s Shane Bieber for the most in the Majors -- and forced the Nationals to swing and miss on 27 of his career-high 114 pitches.

“His stuff was outstanding. He commanded the ball really well. And the Nationals aren't a team that sees him all the time, so there's not a big track record with those hitters facing him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “But either way, it didn't matter who Glas was facing tonight. He had his ‘A’ stuff that he was bringing to the table.”

Glasnow’s swinging-strike total tied the Rays’ pitch-tracking-era record set by himself and Rich Hill earlier this season. He has now worked at least seven innings in four of his last five starts and six of 13 this season, adding efficiency and a bit of a workhorse mentality to a profile that already included some of the nastiest stuff in the Majors.

Glasnow wasn’t sure if the extra rest contributed to his dominant outing Tuesday night. He said his timing on the mound was “great,” a feeling that tends to mitigate the fatigue that sets in during a long outing. He said his slider was the best it’s been all season. Both of those things stemmed from an aggressive mentality, aided by Mike Zunino.

“I'm not quite sure what it was, but I felt good,” Glasnow said. “I think just getting more aggressive and trying to throw [the slider] harder, it helped. I just think not trying to finesse anything, just really trying to keep that extension -- it felt great tonight.”

Glasnow threw 93 pitches across the first six innings. Considering how he was pitching and the extra rest he had, Cash and pitching coach Kyle Snyder agreed he had 15-20 pitches left and sent him out to start the seventh. Tampa Bay’s defense delivered one key out, with Randy Arozarena and Zunino teaming up to cut down Josh Bell at the plate, then Glasnow won a 10-pitch battle with Starlin Castro to finish the inning.

“He came through and made the big pitches, for sure,” Cash said.

“I'm happy they let me go back out and finish,” Glasnow added. “I think once you get into that rhythm and your body's just kind of working on its own, I guess, after you throw so many pitches. I think later in the game for me is when I feel the best.”

The Rays jumped out to an early lead when Manuel Margot -- making his second start atop the order in the last three games -- hit his seventh career leadoff home run off left-hander Jon Lester. Tampa Bay put plenty of pressure on Lester the rest of the evening, leaving two runners on in both the second and third, then leaving the bases loaded in the fourth, but didn’t push anyone else across the plate even as they forced him to throw 91 pitches in 3 2/3 innings.

Overall, the Rays -- who lead the AL with 244 walks -- forced the Nats to throw 182 pitches on the night.

“I think the biggest thing there was guys just working at-bats,” Zunino said. “The offense has been feeling pretty good, but I think that's gonna be our M.O. I mean, guys work at-bats, guys continue to grind it out.”

Finally capitalizing on some of the eight walks they worked, the Rays broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth. Austin Meadows and Arozarena began the inning with consecutive walks, then Meadows scored on a bloop double by Mike Brosseau that bounced in front of -- then over -- right fielder Juan Soto. Two batters later, Zunino smoked an RBI single to center.

“Bross certainly picked us up in a big way,” Cash said. “Big double.”

With Glasnow dealing, the Rays cruised into the eighth with their two-run lead intact. Right-hander J.P. Feyereisen ran into some trouble, walking two to load the bases with one out. In came right-hander Ryan Thompson, who struck out Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Bell then pumped both fists as he marched off the mound.

“To get the strikeout there and then be on the same page there with Bell, making four huge pitches, you couldn't have thrown them any better,” Zunino said.