Rasmussen dominated. Wells made the Yankees' one opening disappear.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 1-0 in Saturday's American League Division Series opener. Drew Rasmussen was the main reason. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, struck out 10 and allowed the Yankees only one hit. Jonathan Aranda's third-inning home run off Gerrit Cole supplied the only run Tampa Bay needed.

New York's best scoring opportunity arrived with two outs in the eighth. Austin Wells drove a double down the right-field line to end Rasmussen's no-hit bid. Instead of staying at second as the tying runner, Wells tried for third. Victor Mesa Jr. retrieved the ball and relayed through Taylor Walls to Junior Caminero, who had the throw waiting. The inning was over.

The risk was Wells' to take, and it was the wrong one

Third-base coach Luis Rojas gave Wells a stop sign, according to MLB's account. Wells ran through it. Wells said afterward he was trying to create a chance to score on a ball in play and acknowledged that stopping at second was probably the smart approach. Manager Aaron Boone called the advance a mistake. This is not a play to pin on an unseen coaching instruction: the available account places the decision with Wells. Aggression is useful when the extra base changes the probability enough to justify losing the runner. With two outs in a 1-0 game and the tying run already in scoring position, this attempt did not meet that test.

The Rays also deserve credit for executing a difficult relay cleanly. Mesa recovered the ball, Walls transferred and threw quickly, and Caminero finished the play. That execution punished the decision, but it did not create the decision. Wells had earned second base and should have stayed there.

One baserunning mistake is not the whole shutout

Still, it would be too easy to make one baserunning error explain eight innings of nearly hitless offense. Cole allowed one run over five innings and the Yankees' pitchers kept the game reachable. The lineup did not solve Rasmussen, who retired 23 of the 26 hitters he faced. New York's next test is Monday's Game 2 at 8 p.m. Eastern. Wells' mistake cost its one late opening; getting more than one opening is the larger adjustment the Yankees need.