The New York Yankees couldn’t get anything going offensively in Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays, managing just one hit in an eventual 1-0 loss. Looking ahead to Game 2, New York is in a favorable spot to even this series as they hand the ball to Cam Schlittler, who was fantastic in the Wild Card series against Boston, allowing just two hits while striking out 10 over 6.1 innings. For the Rays, they’ll counter with Freddy Peralta, who went 10-11 with a 4.42 ERA in the regular season. Despite his overall numbers, Peralta has been pitching much better, going 5-0 with a 0.79 in his last six starts.
Offensively, the Yankees need to get something going and avoid falling into a 2-0 hole in this series. The Rays have been the slightly stronger offensive team this season, batting .258 with a .728 OPS and averaging 4.5 runs per game, while the Yankees batted .235 with a .720 OPS and 4.6 runs per game. This is going to be another great pitching matchup, and Schlittler went 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA against the Rays this season. The Rays are very tough to beat at home, and Peralta has been outstanding since joining Tampa Bay, but I trust Schlittler more in this matchup. He went 8-2 with a 1.16 ERA in 17 road starts this season, and he’s built for this type of environment. Look for the Yankees to pick up a must-win in Game 2 behind their ace.
Yankees vs Rays prediction: New York Yankees ML (-125) at the time of publishing. Playable up to -140.
