Baseball RaysDO

Tampa Bay (97-63, .606, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) beat Philadelphia Friday night, 2-0. The loss by the Phillies keeps them in danger of losing the last wild card spot in the National League. Arizona beat San Diego and is one win behind Philly and owns the tiebreaker, so sweeping the Padres might get the Diamondbacks to the postseason if the Phillies can’t win the next two against the Rays or if Arizona splits the Saturday and Sunday games with S.D., then the Phillies would need to win at least one of the next two with the Rays.

The Phillies will try a “bullpen game” against Rays right-hander Griffin Jax (8-10) on Saturday, and it’s likely to be righty Jose Urquidy (2-2).

First pitch in game 161 is at 7:15 PM EDT in Philadelphia, PA at Citizens Bank Park on September 26th, 2026.

Tampa Bay (96-63, .604, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) won the American League East division on Tuesday, and that’s good, because they lost three out of four, including Thursday’s 6-4 loss. New York (92-67, .579, 2nd AL East) might have been playing this weekend for the division, except for two losses in Arizona last weekend and the one Tuesday night to the Rays.

Tampa Bay moves on to Philadelphia, where the home team still has to win in order to clinch a playoff spot. The Phillies are currently in the third wild card spot, but have a magic number of two. Arizona is playing San Diego, who clinched a spot in the postseason, like Chicago, don’t know what seed they’ll be and who they will play in the wild card round.

The Phillies will send Cristopher Sanchez (18-6), former Rays minor league prospect, to the mound against Freddy Peralta (9-11).

First pitch in game 160 is at 6:40 PM EDT in Philadelphia, PA at Citizens Bank Park on September 25th, 2026.

Tampa Bay (96-62, .608, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) won the American League East division this season and maybe, just maybe, had a bit of a hangover Wednesday. New York (91-67, .576, 2nd AL East) hit 4 home runs and scored 8 runs off Mason Englert in a 9-2 win last night.

The Yankees will send Cam Schlittler (14-6) to the mound against Ian Seymour…again? He was on the schedule Wednesday and bumped back for Englert.

First pitch in game 159 is at 7:05 PM EDT in the Bronx, NY at Yankee Stadium on September 24th, 2026.

Tampa Bay (96-61, .611, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) is the 2026 champion of the American League East division. New York (90-67, .573, 2nd AL East) cannot overtake the Rays, losing the tiebreaker and seem destined to meet Boston in the wild card round of the playoffs. Tampa Bay will have a first round bye and open play in the playoffs with the American League divisional round.

The Yankees will send Gerrit Cole (9-9) to the mound against Ian Seymour (9-7).

First pitch in game 158 is at 7:05 PM EDT in the Bronx, NY at Yankee Stadium on September 23rd, 2026.

Tampa Bay (95-60, .613, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) needs just one win in New York to clinch the American League East. The Yankees (89-66, .574, 2nd AL East, 6 GB) path to a division title is narrow. New York must sweep Tampa Bay and then Baltimore and also hope Philadelphia takes two of three against the Rays next weekend.

The Yankees will send Carlos Rodon (6-3) to the mound in game one against Nick Martinez (15-4) and Max Fried (5-4) against Drew Rasmussen (15-5) in game two.

First pitch in game 156 is at 1:05 PM EDT in the Bronx, NY at Yankee Stadium on September 22nd, 2026, with the second game of the doubleheader, game 157, scheduled to start sometime after the completion of game one with a scheduled first pitch at 7:05 PM.

Tampa Bay (95-60, .613, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) split the first two games with Boston (84-72, .538, 3rd AL East, 2026 playoff bound) in the weekend series, then on Sunday…

The Rays finished 16-7 at home against the American League East division and are 27-21 overall against opponents from the East heading into tomorrow’s series with the Yankees.

Today is the 24th time this season the Rays will be off since the season opener and the seventh time the off-day has come on a Monday. Tampa Bay also had one Friday off-day (the first, on March 27th), a Tuesday (July 14th), a Wednesday (July 15th), and fourteen Thursdays. There are NO DAYS OFF LEFT before the end of the regular season on Sunday, September 27th. Since the Rays clinched a spot in the postseason, we know there will be more in the postseason.

Last year, between games one and 162, the Rays had 23 days off, which included the ones that come as part of the All-Star Game break. This season, there were 24 scheduled days off, which did not include rain delays or postponements or days off between the regular season and postseason or between postseason games.

The Rays are currently a half game behind the Dodgers (96-60, .615) who have the second best record in MLB. Tampa Bay makes up that half game with a double header on Tuesday. Milwaukee remains the best team in baseball with 98 wins, 58 losses (.628).

Tampa Bay (94-60, .610, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) walked off a 2-1 win against Boston (84-71, .542, 3rd AL East, playoff magic # of 1) thanks to an RBI single by Richie Palacios in the bottom of the ninth. With the Yankees loss, the Rays magic number to win the division title drops to TWO and New York (89-65, .578, 2nd AL East, 5th MLB) is five games back of the top spot in the AL East.

The Red Sox will likely send LHP Patrick Sandoval (1-6) against RHP Griffin Jax (7-10) tonight.

First pitch in game 155 is at 1:40 PM EDT in St. Petersburg, FL at Tropicana Field on September 20th, 2026.

Tampa Bay (93-60, .608, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 3rd MLB) fell behind early to Boston (84-70, .545, 3rd AL East, playoff magic # of 2) and failed to rally in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and lost 4-2. With a Yankees win, the Rays do not make progress in the push toward the division title and New York (89-64, .582, 2nd AL East, 5th MLB) gets within four games of the top spot.

The Red Sox will likely send RHP Brayan Bello (6-7) against RHP Freddy Peralta (9-11) tonight.

First pitch in game 154 is at 4:10 PM EDT in St. Petersburg, FL at Tropicana Field on September 19th, 2026.

Tampa Bay (93-59, .612, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 2nd MLB) scored 6 runs in the third inning Thursday afternoon and beat the A’s (61-92, .399, 4th AL West) by the score of 10-1, earning the season series sweep against the club, and securing a 22-9 record against the American League West division for the season.

It’s back to East division baseball for the next seven games and the first comes tonight against Boston (83-70, .539, 3rd AL East, playoff magic # of 3).

The Red Sox will send LHP Ranger Suarez (7-4) against LHP Ian Seymour (9-6) tonight.

First pitch in game 153 is at 7:10 PM EDT in St. Petersburg, FL at Tropicana Field on September 18th, 2026.

Tampa Bay (92-59, .609, 1st AL East, 1st AL, 2nd MLB) jumped out to an early lead last night against the Athletics (61-91, .401, 4th AL West) and held on for a 4-3 win Wednesday night. It was Tampa Bay’s 5th straight win.

The Athletics will send former Rays pitcher Jeffrey Springs (4-13) against two-time All-Star Drew Rasmussen (14-5) this afternoon.

First pitch in game 152 is at 1:10 PM EDT in St. Petersburg, FL at Tropicana Field on September 17th, 2026.