After eliminating the Boston Red Sox with consecutive blowout victories in the Wild Card round of the American League playoffs, the New York Yankees have moved on to the Divisional Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays won the American League East title during the regular season, while the Yankees finished in second place. The Rays and the Yankees had the two best records in the American League. Tampa Bay has homefield advantage in the series and the series will get underway Saturday night at the Tropicana Dome.
Veteran pitcher Gerrit Cole will be on the mound for the Yankees, and he enjoys pitching in the Rays' home park. He said that he “liked the playing surface” and also appreciated that games start on time in the domed stadium. He made that point because the Yankees “played in five doubleheaders” this season. He also said it was a consistent environment, “and that's something any pitcher would appreciate.”
The Yankees started likely Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler and Max Fried in the two games against the Red Sox during the week. Cole had been the ace of the staff for the Yankees, but he missed all of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
He was able to recover and make a comeback this season. Cole made 22 starts this season for the Yankees and 12 were considered quality starts. He had a 10-9 record with a 3.61 earned run average in 127.0 innings. The hard-throwing Cole struck out 131 batters. Dennis Rasmussen will be on the mound for the Rays.
Schlittler is scheduled to start the second game of the series for the Yankees.