The Tampa Bay Rays will travel to the Bronx on Friday to begin a critical three-game series with the Yankees as the AL East race continues to tighten. The Rays come in with three straight wins and eight wins in their last ten games. The Yankees, after stumbling through much of the second half, have seemingly found their footing again as the team starts to get healthier. The pitching matchup for Friday night will be righty Drew Rasmussen (9-4, 2.70) of the Rays taking on Yankees' right-hander Frankie Montas (5-11, 3.79). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm EST.
Here they come again. As the leaves start to turn and the calendar approaches fall, the Tampa Bay Rays once again find themselves in the thick of American League playoff race. The defending American League East champs are also very much in the hunt to defend their title but will need a big weekend in the Bronx to make it happen. Tampa has put themselves in position to do just that thanks to a recent hot streak that resulted in eight wins in ten games. Heading into Friday night's game, the Rays have won three-straight games after sweeping Boston to begin the week.
Five Rays pitchers combine to shut out the Red Sox #RaysWin | #RaysSweep pic.twitter.com/7mqb9vd2ql
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 8, 2022
Tampa Bay's pitching has been absolutely lights out during this ten-game stretch, culminating in five pitchers combining to shut out Boston 1-0 on Wednesday night. Over this ten game span, the Rays have an ERA of 2.20 and have allowed just 68 hits in 90 innings pitched. They have a 8.9 K/9 rate over that span as well. On Friday night, Tampa will turn to Drew Rasmussen to get the team off on the right foot. Rasmussen is 2-0 in his last three games with a 2.12 ERA over that time. His K rate is even stronger than the team's overall rate as Rasmussen is striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings over that span. Rasmussen has yet to face the Bombers this season.