Our New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays preview covers the odds, run line, total, probable pitchers, first pitch time, TV channel and where to watch for Game 2 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) on Monday, October 5, 2026. The No. 4-seeded New York Yankees (93-68) and the No. 1-seeded Tampa Bay Rays (98-64) meet again at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., in the best-of-five series, which the Rays lead 1-0. First pitch is 8:00 PM ET (8:00 PM local). TV: TBS / truTV / HBO Max.
Division Series storyline: Tampa Bay won Game 1 1-0 on Saturday night as Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Jonathan Aranda homered off Gerrit Cole. New York outscored Boston 18-2 in a two-game Wild Card sweep at Yankee Stadium. Tampa Bay went 98-64, won the AL East by 4 1/2 games over the Yankees and earned the AL’s top seed. The Rays won the regular-season series 7-6. Aaron Judge (right calf strain) is not on the Yankees’ ALDS roster (ESPN, MLB.com). The probable pitchers are Cam Schlittler for the Yankees and Freddy Peralta for the Rays. DraftKings lists the Rays at +109 on the moneyline and the Yankees at -131, with the total at 6.5.
New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays Odds, Run Line & Game Info
| Matchup | New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays |
|---|---|
| Series | American League Division Series (ALDS), Game 2 — best-of-five, 2-2-1 format |
| Series Score | Rays lead 1-0 (Rays won Game 1 1-0 on Oct. 3). Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 8 PM ET at Yankee Stadium; 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 | New York Yankees No. 4 | Tampa Bay Rays No. 1 (AL) |
| 2026 Records | New York Yankees 93-68 (47-34 on the road) | Tampa Bay Rays 98-64 (55-26 at home) |
| How They Got Here | Yankees: Swept the No. 5 Boston Red Sox 2-0 in the AL Wild Card Series (9-0, 9-2) | Rays: First-round bye as AL East champion and No. 1 seed |
| Run Line | Yankees -1.5 (+141) | Rays +1.5 (-171) |
| Moneyline | New York Yankees: -131 | Tampa Bay Rays: +109 |
| Total | O/U 6.5 (Over -115 / Under -105) |
| Probable Pitchers | Yankees: Cam Schlittler (RHP, 14-6, 1.95 ERA, 33 GS, 193.2 IP, 239 K, 49 BB, 0.92 WHIP) | Rays: Freddy Peralta (RHP, 10-11, 4.42 ERA, 32 GS, 169.0 IP, 156 K, 63 BB, 1.33 WHIP; 5-2, 3.25 ERA in 10 starts with TB) |
| Managers | New York Yankees: Aaron Boone | Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash |
| Venue | Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Fla.) |
| Date / Time | Monday, October 5, 2026 — 8:00 PM ET (8:00 PM local) |
| TV / How to Watch | TBS / truTV / HBO Max |
| 2026 Season Series | Rays won the 2026 season series 7-6 |
Odds via DraftKings (through ESPN) as of Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, 10:21 PM ET. Opening line: Yankees -130 / Rays +108, total 6.5. Lines move, so check your sportsbook before first pitch.
Yankees vs Rays ALDS Series Context
Format: The ALDS is a best-of-five series in a 2-2-1 format. Games 1 and 2 are at Tropicana Field, Games 3 and 4 move to Yankee Stadium, and a deciding Game 5 would return to St. Petersburg. Remaining schedule (times ET): Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 8 PM ET at Yankee Stadium; 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 (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. Austin Wells’ two-out double in the eighth was New York’s only hit, and Wells was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple (MLB.com). Bryan Baker struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton and Ben Rice in a perfect ninth for the save. Aranda’s homer, a Statcast-projected 417 feet on a 2-2 changeup, was his first career postseason hit (MLB.com). Cole allowed one run on five hits in five innings with five strikeouts and one walk in his first postseason game since Tommy John surgery, and Ryan Weathers, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick followed with three scoreless innings. MLB.com noted the one hit was the fewest in the Yankees’ 447 postseason games, and Rasmussen’s 10 strikeouts tied Tyler Glasnow’s franchise record for a postseason game (AP).
How they got here: New York beat Boston 9-0 in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series behind Schlittler (6 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K) and Rice, who went 4-for-5 with two homers and six RBIs, then won Game 2 9-2 as Max Fried allowed one run in six innings and Cody Bellinger homered and drove in four (MLB Stats API box scores). Tampa Bay clinched the AL East and the No. 1 seed with a 6-1 win over the Yankees on Sept. 22 at Yankee Stadium and finished 98-64, including 55-26 at home (MLB.com, MLB Stats API).
Head-to-head: Tampa Bay went 7-6 against New York in 2026, although the Yankees won three of four in the final regular-season series, Sept. 22-24 at Yankee Stadium (MLB Stats API). MLB.com noted the Game 1 win snapped the Rays’ seven-game postseason losing streak and gave them a 4-2 postseason record against the Yankees, including the 2020 ALDS.
New York Yankees Preview: ALDS Game 2
Season in review: Manager Aaron Boone‘s Yankees went 93-68 (one game was not made up, so they played 161), 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, Jazz Chisholm Jr. stole 41 bases, and David Bednar had 35 saves (MLB Stats API team leaders).
Aaron Judge and roster notes: Judge was left off the ALDS roster with a right calf strain; Boone called it a “close” call. Judge has not yet run the bases but has been doing outfield running and getting numerous live at-bats (MLB.com). Weathers, back from a left flexor strain, replaced Amed Rosario on the roster, Will Warren has moved to the bullpen after 29 regular-season starts, and Clarke Schmidt has been ruled out for the rest of the postseason (MLB.com). ESPN also lists RHPs Fernando Cruz and Kervin Castro (elbow, 60-day IL).
Lineup and who’s hot: MLB.com projects the same lineup New York used against Rasmussen: Rice (DH), Bellinger (LF), Luis García Jr. (1B), Spencer Jones (RF), George Lombard Jr. (SS), Chisholm (2B), Trent Grisham (CF), Wells (C) and Ryan McMahon (3B). Including the postseason, Rice is batting .348 (23-for-66) with seven homers and 15 RBIs over his last 18 games, and he hit seven homers in 13 regular-season games against the Rays (MLB.com).
Tampa Bay Rays Preview: ALDS Game 2
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). Junior Caminero led the club with 42 homers and 101 RBIs, Aranda drove in 92 runs, Chandler Simpson hit .306 with 46 steals, and Baker had 41 saves (MLB Stats API team leaders).
Lineup and bullpen: MLB.com projects the Game 1 lineup again: Yandy Díaz (DH), Aranda (1B), Caminero (3B), Liam Hicks (C), Simpson (LF), Victor Mesa Jr. (RF), Jonny DeLuca (CF), Richie Palacios (2B) and Taylor Walls (SS). Mesa hit .355 with a 1.015 OPS in September and Palacios posted a .981 OPS with five homers that month (MLB.com). Tyler Wells, back from a forearm issue, Kevin Kelly and Cam Booser set up for Baker (MLB.com).
Injuries: LHP Shane McClanahan (forearm) will not pitch in this series (MLB.com, ESPN). ESPN lists Jax as day-to-day with a back bruise, though MLB.com counts him among the starters available in relief. OF Gavin Lux, RHP Edwin Uceta and RHP Jonathan Heasley are on the 60-day IL (ESPN).
Starting Pitchers: Cam Schlittler vs Freddy Peralta
Yankees: Cam Schlittler (RHP). The 25-year-old went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA in 33 starts, with 239 strikeouts, 49 walks, a 0.92 WHIP and a .185 opponents’ average in 193 2/3 innings (MLB Stats API). MLB.com noted he went 8-2 with a 1.16 ERA in 17 road starts and led the majors in road ERA, road strikeouts (129) and road WHIP (0.74). In Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Sept. 29 he threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings against Boston, allowing two hits with 10 strikeouts on 117 pitches, and he works on five days’ rest Monday (MLB Stats API). Against Tampa Bay this season he went 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in three starts, including eight innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts and no walks at Tropicana Field on July 6; his Sept. 24 outing was a three-inning tuneup (MLB Stats API, MLB.com).
Rays: Freddy Peralta (RHP). Cash named Peralta the Game 2 starter after Game 1; he had been available in relief Saturday but was not needed (MLB.com). Peralta went 10-11 with a 4.42 ERA in 32 starts overall: 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts for the Mets, and 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA, 43 strikeouts and a 1.01 WHIP in 10 starts after Tampa Bay acquired him from the Mets on Aug. 2 (MLB Stats API). He was the AL Pitcher of the Month for September, going 5-0 with a 0.79 ERA, 27 strikeouts and nine walks in 34 innings over his final six starts, and MLB.com reported a 1.69 ERA and 0.75 WHIP over his last four home starts. His last start was Sept. 25 at Philadelphia (5 1/3 scoreless innings). He faced the Yankees once this season, with the Mets on May 17, allowing three earned runs and six walks in five innings (MLB Stats API). He has made nine postseason appearances over six trips to the playoffs with Milwaukee (MLB.com).
Key Matchup Notes: Yankees vs Rays Game 2
- Low scoring so far: Game 1 produced one run and six hits combined, and the teams went a combined 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position (MLB Stats API box score).
- Schlittler on the road: MLB.com noted opponents hit .153 with a .456 OPS against Schlittler in road games this season.
- Peralta’s turnaround: MLB.com described his Mets tenure as “tumultuous” and reported he made adjustments with pitching coach Kyle Snyder after the trade; he allowed three earned runs over his final 34 innings of the regular season (MLB Stats API).
- Bullpens: Baker (41 regular-season saves) and Bednar (35) close for their clubs. In Game 1, Tampa Bay used only Rasmussen (101 pitches) and Baker (14), and MLB.com reported the Rays are in line to have their full staff available Monday, including starters Griffin Jax, Ian Seymour and Nick Martinez. New York’s relievers covered three innings after Cole: Weathers (9 pitches), Blackburn (25) and Headrick (12) (MLB Stats API).
- Rice vs. Tampa Bay: Rice hit seven homers against the Rays in the regular season and went 0-for-3 with a walk in Game 1 (MLB.com, MLB Stats API).
How to Watch New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays – ALDS Game 2
Date: Monday, October 5, 2026
First pitch: 8:00 PM ET (8:00 PM local)
Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
TV / Streaming: TBS, truTV and HBO Max (MLB Stats API, ESPN, MLB.com). Spanish-language coverage is listed on Univision/TUDN by the MLB Stats API; MLB.com lists UniMas, with TUDN Radio carrying Spanish-language audio.
The series winner advances to the ALCS against the winner of the White Sox-Guardians ALDS. After an off day Tuesday, Game 3 is Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Yankee Stadium. Boone said Carlos Rodón will “probably” start Game 3 or Game 4 at home, with Max Fried in line for the other (New York Post); Tampa Bay has not announced its Game 3 starter (MLB.com). Check the run line, moneyline and total above against your sportsbook before the October 5, 2026 first pitch, and look for official lineups closer to game time.