Rays Catching Big Stretch of AL East Games at Perfect Time

The Tampa Bay Rays are playing well this week, going 5-1. That's a good thing with 13 straight American League East games in a row — including three with the New York Yankees starting on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena (left) and third baseman Isaac Paredes celebrate another win. / Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Things are never easy in the American League East, perennially baseball's best division from top to bottom. It's always a battle — and sometimes it's a war.

After 15 straight games outside of the division, the Tampa Bay Rays dive back into the deep end starting on Friday night. They'll host the New York Yankees for three games, then play four at Boston, three in Toronto and then three more at home against the Red Sox on May 20-22.

It's an important stretch for the Rays. Not season-defining, but important. The Rays are 19-19 right now, but they've won five of six and their bats are finally heating up.

That's good timing, especially after a 2-8 stretch where they only scored 31 runs. They scored 34 in their five-game winning streak before losing to the Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Wednesday night.

The Rays are in fourth place, six games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who are a league-best 24-12. The Yankees are 25-14, a half-game behind. The Red Sox (19-18), Rays and Blue Jays (17-20) are all bunched up behind them.

This is a good time for the Rays to get back in the race. They've played only seven AL East games so far in their first 38, splitting their season-opener series with Toronto 2-2 and losing two of three to the Yankees in New York from April 19 to April 21. They'll see Boston for the first time during this stretch, and won't see Baltimore until at series at Camden Yards from May 31 to June 2. They'll meet up a week later in St. Pete, with a four-game series from June 7-10.

The Rays are without Ryan Pepiot this series. The talented right-hander was hit with a line drive last Sunday, and it's taken a while for the soreness to subside. The Rays aren't taking any chances, so they put him on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday and called up second-year man Taj Bradley, who just completed two rehab starts and will make his 2024 big-league debut on Friday night.

Here are the pitching matchups for the Rays-Yankees series:

• FRIDAY NIGHT, 6:50 p.m.: New York's Clarke Schmidt (3-1, 3.50 ERA) vs. Tampa Bay's Taj Bradley (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Schmidt has 41 strikeouts in 36 innings, but has also allowed 13 walks and five home runs. He pitched 5 1/3 innings against the Rays on April 19, allowing just one run and recording seven strikeouts. He left trailing 1-0, but the Yankees scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to win 5-3. Bradley made 23 appearances a year ago and pitched 104 2/3 innings. He posted a 5-8 record with a 5.59 ERA, but never faced the Yankees.

• SATURDAY, 4:10 p.m.: New York's Nestor Cortes (1-3, 3.72 ERA) vs. Tampa Bay's Zac Littell (1-2, 3.00 ERA). Cortes pitched seven scoreless innings against the Rays on April 20, but the Rays won 2-0 in 10 innings. Cortes finds the plate. He's allowed only eight walks in 48 1/3 innings so far. The same can be said of Littell, who's only walked five in 39 innings. Littell missed the Yankees earlier this year, and faced them just once last year. He was the winning pitcher in a 7-4 victory on Aug. 27 in St. Petersburg, but he allowed four runs in six innings, including three home runs.

• SUNDAY, 1:40 p.m.: New York's Luis Gil (3-1, 2.92 ERA) vs. Tampa Bay TBA. Gil allowed only one unearned run against the Rays on April 21, picking up the win in the Yankees' 5-4 victory. It's fair to say he's been New York's best starter so far this season. The 25-year-old has won his last two starts over Houston and Baltimore. He pitched a combined 12 1/3 innings, allowing only one total run. The Rays have not announced a starter yet, but it's likely we'll see a lot of Tyler Alexander, either as the starter or behind an opener.