Gameday Preview: Rays Try to Figure Out Yankees Pitching in Sold-Out Saturday Game

Tampa Bay has had unusual success against New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole through the years, and the Rays would love a good day against him Saturday after losing the first two games of the series. Here's our gameday preview, with a breakdown on the pitchers, the starting lineups and a ton of pregame newsy nuggets.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay hitters have struggled out of the gate in this first series of the season against the New York Yankees, scoring in just one of the first 18 innings in 7-2 and 2-0 losses on Thursday and Friday night.

They'll try to change on Saturday, with veterans Corey Kluber and Gerrit Cole matching up in the 4:10 p.m. ET game at Tropicana Field. The game is sold out, and the Rays will be wearing their white Devil Rays throwback jerseys.

Cole is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but don't tell that to the Rays. He is 1-6 against them all-time, with a 4.46 earned run average. He's 1-4 as a Yankee, and was 1-3 last year against the Rays. He's made four starts at Tropicana Field, and lost three of them. He has had 10 or more strikeouts in all four games, though, and that's the longest streak ever by an opposing player at the Trop. Only Tampa Bay's Tyler Glasnow is done it more often, with a streak of six games in 2021.

The Rays haven't lost three games in a row in the same homestand all season, but that could happen on Saturday. The Rays are a plus-125 underdog, the highest number in a home game all season.

Here's how to watch Saturday's game, with TV information and starting lineups and more. Dewayne Staats is back behind the microphone on the TV side after he missed Friday's game to attend his grandson's graduation.

How to watch Yankees at Rays

• Who: New York Yankees (33-13) at Tampa Bay Rays (26-19)
• When: 4:10 p.m. ET, Saturday, May 28
• Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Ryan Bass (reporter).
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, SiriusXM Channel 184
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
• Latest line: The Yankees are favored at minus-150 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Saturday afternoon. The Rays are plus-125. It's the largest underdog spread in a home game all year for the Rays. The over/under is 6.5.

Projected starting pitchers

• Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole: New York ace Gerrit Cole makes his 10th start of the season on Saturday. He's 4-1 on the season with a 3.31 earned run average. He got off to a shaky start this season — a 6.35 ERA in his first three starts — but then allowed just six earned runs total over his next five starts in 32 2/3 innings, good for a 1.65 ERA. The 31-year-old Newport Beach, Calif. native was roughed up in his last start, giving up five runs in an 8-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. 
• Rays right-hander Corey Kluber: Corey Kluber has been the most inconsistent of the Rays' starters this season. He's just 1-2 with a 4.42 earned run average, and has given up 11 hits in two games already this season. But he's also had three outings of allowing one run or less this year, too. His last outing was a struggle as well. Last Sunday at Baltimore, he lasted only three innings, giving up five hits and two walks, and throwing 73 pitches to get those nine outs.

Projected lineups

• Yankees lineup: DJ LeMahieu 3B, Aaron Judge CF, Anthony Rizzo 1B, Gleyber Torres 2B, Miguel Andujar LF, Matt Carpenter DH, Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS, Jose Trevino C, Joey Gallo RF, Gerrit Cole P.
• Rays lineup:  Yandy Diaz 3B, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Wander Franco SS, Randy Arozarena DH, Manuel Margot LF, Kevin Kiermaier CF, Francisco Mejia C, Brett Phillips RF, Taylor Walls 2B, Corey Kluber P. 

Newsy nuggets

• No. 1 — Patino improving: Rays pitcher Luis Patino continues to make progress from his oblique injury and seems to be on track for a June return. He was injured in the first inning of his first start on April 11 and went on thje 60-day injured list. He threw 26 pitches in the bullpen on Sunday and said he felt good, and is scheduled to throw again on Wednesday. He's eligible to come off the IL on June 11.
• No. 2 — Choi owns Cole: For as good as Gerrit Cole is, Tampa Bay first baseman Ji-Man Choi has had a great career against him. He has a .435 batting average against him (10-for-23) and has four home runs off of him. That's the most that Choi has hit against any one pitcher. Choi is in the lineup on Saturday, of course, batting second.
• No. 3 — Magic number is 4: Good things happen for the Rays when they score at least four runs in a game. They are 6-16 this season when scoring three runs or less, compared to 20-3 when scoring four runs or more. They and 17-2 when scoring five runs or more, and are 23-3 when they outhit their opponent and 2-13 when recording fewer hits than their opponent.
• No. 4 — Defensive issues: The Rays have made nine errors and allowed 10 unearned runs in the last seven games, which has been a disturbing trend this season. They have allowed 32 unearned runs this year, worst in the American League and second only to the Pittsburgh Pirates (34). Last year, they didn't allow their 32nd unearned run until June 22, their 74th game. They've played 45 games so far. 

Related stories on Rays baseball

• TAILLON BLANKS RAYS (Fri.): Tampa Bay was looking forward to challenging the New York Yankees this weekend, but their bats haven't showed up. The Rays were silenced for the second straight night, this time by Yankees starter Jameson Taillon, who only allowed two hits through eight innings in the 2-0 victory. CLICK HERE
• RAYS NOTEBOOK (Fri.):  Even though the Tampa Bay bats have been stifled by New York pitching the past few days, Rays outfielder Manuel Margot continues to rake. He had a double on Friday night, and has now hit in 14 consecutive games. CLICK HERE
• CORTES DOMINATES RAYS (Thurs.): Tampa Bay's Ryan Yarbrough matched New York's Nestor Cortes for five innings Thursday night, but a tough sixth inning led to a 7-2 Yankees' victory. Cortes went eight-plus and was tough to figure out for Rays' hitters. CLICK HERE
• TOM BREW COLUMN: The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays did something usual on Thursday, taking to social media to highlight this country's serious problem with gun violence after events in Buffalo, N.Y. and Uvalde, Texas in the past week or so. There were no game updates, just gun violence statistics. Good for them. CLICK HERE
• 1-2 PUNCH WITH McCLANAHAN, RASMUSSEN: The argument can be made that Tampa Bay starters Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen are the best one-two punch in the American League, and they've been really good the past month or so. Their numbers are exceptional, and here's our comparison of the best pair of pitchers in the league. CLICK HERE
• RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 schedule for the Tampa Bay Rays, with results and stats from every game far, and dates, locations and gametimes for the rest of the season. CLICK HERE

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