Our Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees preview covers the odds, run line, moneyline, total, probable pitchers, first pitch time, TV channel and where to watch for Game 3 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. The No. 1-seeded Tampa Bay Rays (98-64) and the No. 4-seeded New York Yankees (93-68) meet at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y., where the Rays lead the best-of-five series 2-0 and the Yankees face elimination. First pitch is 8:00 PM ET (5:00 PM PT). TV: TBS / truTV / HBO Max.
Division Series storyline: Tampa Bay won Game 1 1-0 as Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, then beat New York 5-2 in Game 2 behind a four-run fifth while the Yankees committed four errors. MLB.com noted teams with a 2-0 lead have won 83 of 93 best-of-five postseason series, and the last team to come back from 0-2 in a best-of-five was the 2017 Yankees in the ALDS. The Rays clinched the AL East at Yankee Stadium with a 6-1 win on Sept. 22 and can clinch a trip to the ALCS there (MLB.com). Aaron Judge (right calf strain) remains off the Yankees’ ALDS roster (MLB.com, ESPN). The probable pitchers are Nick Martinez for the Rays and Max Fried for the Yankees. DraftKings lists the Yankees at -162 on the moneyline and the Rays at +134, with the total at 7.
Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Odds, Run Line & Game Info
| Matchup | Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees |
|---|---|
| Series | American League Division Series (ALDS), Game 3 — best-of-five, 2-2-1 format |
| Series Score | Rays lead 2-0. Game 1: Rays won 1-0 (Saturday, Oct. 3). Game 2: Rays won 5-2 (Monday, Oct. 5). Remaining: Game 4 (if necessary): Thursday, Oct. 8, 8 PM ET at Yankee Stadium; Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, Oct. 10, 8 PM ET at Tropicana Field |
| Seeds | Tampa Bay Rays No. 1 | New York Yankees No. 4 (AL) |
| 2026 Records | Tampa Bay Rays 98-64 (43-38 on the road) | New York Yankees 93-68 (46-34 at home) |
| How They Got Here | Rays: First-round bye as AL East champion and No. 1 seed | Yankees: Swept the No. 5 Boston Red Sox 2-0 in the AL Wild Card Series (9-0, 9-2) |
| Run Line | Rays +1.5 (-168) | Yankees -1.5 (+139) |
| Moneyline | Tampa Bay Rays: +134 | New York Yankees: -162 |
| Total | O/U 7 (Over -120 / Under +100) |
| Probable Pitchers | Rays: Nick Martinez (RHP, 15-6, 3.10 ERA, 31 GS, 180.0 IP, 109 K, 26 BB, 1.09 WHIP; first career postseason start) | Yankees: Max Fried (LHP, 5-5, 2.80 ERA, 20 GS, 112.2 IP, 104 K, 33 BB, 0.99 WHIP; 1 R in 6 IP in Wild Card Game 2) |
| Managers | Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash | New York Yankees: Aaron Boone |
| Venue | Yankee Stadium (Bronx, N.Y.) |
| Date / Time | Wednesday, October 7, 2026 — 8:00 PM ET (5:00 PM PT) |
| TV / How to Watch | TBS / truTV / HBO Max (Spanish: UniMas per MLB.com; Univision/TUDN per the MLB Stats API) |
| 2026 Season Series | Rays won the 2026 season series 7-6 |
Odds via DraftKings (through ESPN) as of Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, 11:12 PM ET. Opening line: Rays +122 / Yankees -147, total 7. Lines move, so check your sportsbook before first pitch.
Rays vs Yankees ALDS Series Context
Format: The ALDS is a best-of-five series in a 2-2-1 format. Games 1 and 2 were at Tropicana Field, home of the top-seeded Rays, Games 3 and 4 are at Yankee Stadium, and a deciding Game 5 would return to St. Petersburg. The remaining schedule is in the table above (MLB Stats API).
Game 1 recap: Drew Rasmussen (W) carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, and Jonathan Aranda’s solo homer off Gerrit Cole (L) in the third gave the Rays a 1-0 win at Tropicana Field on Saturday night. Rasmussen struck out 10 and walked two over eight innings on 101 pitches, and Austin Wells’ two-out double in the eighth was New York’s only hit before Bryan Baker pitched a perfect ninth for the save. Cole allowed one run in five innings in his first postseason game since Tommy John surgery. MLB.com noted the one hit was the fewest in the Yankees’ 447 postseason games (MLB Stats API box score, MLB.com).
Game 2 recap: Tampa Bay scored four runs in the fifth inning and beat New York 5-2 at Tropicana Field on Monday night as the Yankees committed four errors, three of them in the first inning (MLB.com). Yandy Díaz reached on Ryan McMahon’s error to open the game and scored when Jazz Chisholm Jr. threw away a double-play attempt, and Ben Rice tied it with a solo homer off Freddy Peralta in the fourth. Cam Booser (W) got Cody Bellinger to fly out with the bases loaded in the fifth. In the bottom half, Aranda singled, Junior Caminero doubled, Liam Hicks drove in a run with a groundout and Chandler Simpson’s chopper scored another, ending Cam Schlittler’s night (L; 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 K). After a George Lombard Jr. throwing error, Richie Palacios hit a two-run single off Brent Headrick. Ian Seymour covered three innings, allowing only Rice’s second homer, and Baker pitched the ninth for his second save (MLB Stats API box score, MLB.com).
How they got here: New York beat Boston 9-0 in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series behind Schlittler (6 1/3 scoreless innings, 10 K) and Rice, who homered twice and drove in six, then won Game 2 9-2 as Max Fried allowed one run in six innings (MLB Stats API box scores). Tampa Bay finished 98-64, including 55-26 at home, for its first AL East title in five years (MLB Stats API, MLB.com).
Head-to-head: Tampa Bay went 7-6 against New York in 2026, but the Yankees won four of the six games in the Bronx, including three of four in the final week of the regular season (MLB Stats API, MLB.com). The Yankees have lost seven of nine games at Tropicana Field this year, including the playoffs (MLB.com).
Tampa Bay Rays Preview: ALDS Game 3
Season in review: Under manager Kevin Cash, the Rays went 98-64 (55-26 at home, 43-38 on the road) to win the AL East and earn the AL’s No. 1 seed. Tampa Bay scored 736 runs and allowed 650, hit .258 with a .728 OPS, stole 164 bases and posted a 3.70 team ERA with 58 saves (MLB Stats API). Caminero led the club with 42 homers and 101 RBIs, Aranda drove in 92 runs, Simpson hit .306 with 46 steals, and Baker had 41 saves (MLB Stats API team leaders). The Rays struck out less than any team in the majors and led the AL in defensive efficiency (MLB.com).
Lineup and who’s hot: Against the left-handed Fried, MLB.com sketched a more right-handed lineup: Díaz (DH), Aranda (1B), Caminero (3B), Ryan Vilade (RF), Jonny DeLuca (CF), Simpson (LF), Ben Williamson (2B), Nick Fortes (C) and Taylor Walls (SS). Aranda homered in Game 1 and had two more hits in Game 2, and Palacios, a Brooklyn native, posted a .981 OPS with five homers in September and ranked second on the team with 31 two-out RBIs (MLB.com). The Rays have 13 hits in the series and are 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position (MLB Stats API box scores).
Bullpen and injuries: Rasmussen’s eight innings in Game 1 and 7 2/3 combined from Peralta and Seymour in Game 2 mean Tampa Bay’s traditional relievers have recorded only seven of the 54 outs in the series, and setup men Tyler Wells and Kevin Kelly have not pitched; starter Griffin Jax is also available (MLB.com). Left-hander Shane McClanahan (forearm) will not pitch in this series. ESPN lists Jax as day-to-day with a back bruise and OF Gavin Lux, RHP Edwin Uceta and RHP Jonathan Heasley on the 60-day IL.
New York Yankees Preview: ALDS Game 3
Season in review: Manager Aaron Boone‘s Yankees went 93-68 (one game was not made up), finishing second in the AL East, 4 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay. They were 46-34 at home and 47-34 on the road. New York scored 739 runs and allowed 601, hit .235 with a .720 OPS and 223 homers, stole 153 bases and posted a 3.23 team ERA with 45 saves (MLB Stats API). Rice led the club with 41 homers, 97 RBIs and an .897 OPS (MLB Stats API team leaders). “We’ve got to come out Wednesday night,” Boone said after Game 2. “Everything’s on the line” (MLB.com).
Lineup and who’s cold: Rice is 7-for-15 with four homers and eight RBIs this postseason, including his second two-homer game in Game 2, and Wells is 5-for-12; the rest of the lineup is a combined 1-for-46 in the ALDS (MLB.com). Boone said he is considering changes, including Anthony Volpe at third base, with Jose Caballero and Paul Goldschmidt also in the mix. MLB.com’s projection: Rice (DH), Bellinger (LF), Luis García Jr. (1B), Spencer Jones (RF), Lombard (SS), Chisholm (2B), Wells (C), Trent Grisham (CF) and Volpe (3B). The four errors in Game 2 were New York’s second-most in a postseason game, behind five in Game 2 of the 1976 ALCS (MLB.com).
Pitching and injuries: Judge was left off the ALDS roster with a right calf strain and has not yet run the bases, and Clarke Schmidt is out for the postseason (MLB.com). Ryan Weathers, back from a left flexor strain, joined the roster, and David Bednar, Paul Blackburn and Headrick handle high-leverage outs, with Will Warren in the bullpen after 29 regular-season starts (MLB.com). Carlos Rodón, in line for Game 4, has not pitched since eight scoreless innings against Tampa Bay on Sept. 22 (MLB.com). ESPN also lists RHPs Fernando Cruz and Kervin Castro on the 60-day IL.
Starting Pitchers: Nick Martinez vs Max Fried
Rays: Nick Martinez (RHP). The 36-year-old, who signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in February and became a first-time All-Star, went 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA in 31 starts, with 109 strikeouts, 26 walks and a 1.09 WHIP in 180 innings (MLB Stats API). The Rays went 22-9 in his starts, and he was 7-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 16 road starts (MLB.com, MLB Stats API). Against New York he made three starts and allowed four earned runs in 16 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts, including three runs over 12 innings in two outings at Yankee Stadium on May 22 and Sept. 22 (MLB Stats API, MLB.com). This is his first career postseason start; his previous eight playoff appearances came in relief for San Diego in 2022 and Cincinnati in 2025, with a 3.18 ERA in 11 1/3 innings (MLB Stats API). “I imagine it’s going to be an electric crowd with their season on the line,” Martinez said (MLB.com).
Yankees: Max Fried (LHP). Fried went 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA in 20 starts, with 104 strikeouts, 33 walks, a 0.99 WHIP and a .201 opponents’ average in 112 2/3 innings in a season interrupted by two injured-list stints for a left elbow bone bruise (MLB Stats API). He had a 3.42 ERA in nine home starts and a 2.34 ERA in 11 road starts. In Wild Card Game 2 against Boston on Sept. 30 he allowed one run on three hits over six innings with six strikeouts and one walk (98 pitches) (MLB Stats API). He faced Tampa Bay twice this season, allowing three runs in eight innings on April 11 and four runs in 6 2/3 innings in the Sept. 22 loss in which the Rays clinched the division; MLB.com lists a 5-1 record and 1.81 ERA in seven career starts against the Rays. His career postseason ERA is 5.03 over 82 1/3 innings in 23 games (15 starts) (MLB Stats API). “It’s a must-win game, obviously,” Fried said. “There’s nothing else to save anything for” (MLB.com).
Key Matchup Notes: Rays vs Yankees Game 3
- Left-handed pitching: SI noted the Rays had a .678 OPS against left-handers this season, compared with .751 against right-handers, and New York has lefties Fried and Rodón lined up for Games 3 and 4.
- Contact vs. defense: Tampa Bay puts the ball in play more than any team, and New York’s four Game 2 errors led to three unearned runs (MLB.com, MLB Stats API). The team that scored first won both games in St. Petersburg (MLB.com).
- Bullpens: In Game 2, Tampa Bay followed Peralta (66 pitches) with Booser (8), Seymour (41) and Baker (9), and New York followed Schlittler (76) with Headrick (18), John Schreiber (15), Weathers (13), Blackburn (12) and Bednar (3) (MLB Stats API). Both teams had Tuesday off.
- Low scoring: The teams have combined for eight runs in two games, and New York has five hits in 58 at-bats in the series (MLB Stats API box scores). DraftKings lists the Game 3 total at 7.
How to Watch Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees – ALDS Game 3
Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2026
First pitch: 8:00 PM ET (5:00 PM PT)
Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y.
TV / Streaming: TBS, truTV and HBO Max (MLB Stats API, MLB.com). MLB.com lists Spanish-language TV on UniMas, with Univision’s TUDN Radio carrying Spanish-language audio (the MLB Stats API lists Univision/TUDN).
The series winner advances to the ALCS against the winner of the Guardians-White Sox ALDS. If New York wins Wednesday, Game 4 would be Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium, with Carlos Rodón in line to start, and a deciding Game 5, if necessary, would be Saturday, Oct. 10 at Tropicana Field (MLB Stats API, MLB.com). Check the run line, moneyline and total above against your sportsbook before the October 7, 2026 first pitch, and look for official lineups closer to game time.