New York swept Boston out of the wild card round without Aaron Judge, and now opens the Division Series the same way.
The captain is on the injured list with a strained right calf and is not on the ALDS roster. Ben Rice, who hit two home runs and drove in six in Game 1 against the Red Sox, carries the lineup instead.
How to watch
Yankees at Rays, ALDS Game 1
Saturday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. ET
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
TV: TBS and truTV
Spanish: UniMas, with audio on TUDN Radio
Streaming: HBO Max
Radio: WFAN 660 AM in New York, ESPN Radio nationally
American League games are on TBS and truTV this round with streaming on HBO Max. National League games are on FOX and FS1. The Wild Card round was on NBC and Peacock.
TBS and truTV are carried on Sling, YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu Live, DirecTV Stream and most cable packages. Sling sells day passes starting at $4.99.
Lineups
New York: Ben Rice DH, Cody Bellinger LF, Luis Garcia Jr. 1B, Spencer Jones RF, George Lombard Jr. SS, Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B, Trent Grisham CF, Austin Wells C, Ryan McMahon 3B.
Tampa Bay: Yandy Diaz DH, Jonathan Aranda 1B, Junior Caminero 3B, Liam Hicks C, Chandler Simpson LF, Victor Mesa Jr. RF, Jonny DeLuca CF, Richie Palacios 2B, Taylor Walls SS.
The pitching matchup
Drew Rasmussen starts for Tampa Bay at 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA. He is the Rays' clear ace, and the staff finished second in the American League with a 3.51 ERA, behind only New York's 3.30.
Gerrit Cole starts for New York at 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA. He is the Yankees' third starter behind Cam Schlittler, the American League Cy Young favorite, and Max Fried.
Schlittler starts Game 2. Carlos Rodon is lined up for Game 3 or 4.
Judge is out
Judge strained the soleus muscle in his right calf on Sept. 16. That injury typically requires at least three weeks.
He took live batting practice at Yankee Stadium, traveled to the Double-A Somerset Patriots for more at-bats, and worked out in Tampa on Friday. It wasn't enough.
He was not on the wild card roster either. New York swept Boston anyway, outscoring the Red Sox 18-2 across two games.
Clarke Schmidt is on the 15-day list with a biceps injury. Kervin Castro and Fernando Cruz are on the 60-day.
Who is hitting
Ben Rice hit 41 home runs with 97 RBIs and a .534 slugging percentage. Luis Garcia Jr. hit 30 with 92 RBIs. Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. round out the middle.
For Tampa Bay, Junior Caminero hit 42 home runs with 101 RBIs and 100 runs, fourth in the majors in homers. Yandy Diaz hit .293 with 22. Jonathan Aranda bats second.
Liam Hicks catches. Tampa Bay acquired him from Miami on Aug. 3 for Brayden Taylor, Adrian Santana and Jacob Kisting, and he has hit .288 with four home runs in 41 games since.
Chandler Simpson is day-to-day with a foot injury and starts in left.
The international rosters
Twelve Yankees played in the World Baseball Classic in March. Judge captained Team USA alongside Paul Goldschmidt and David Bednar, with Andy Pettitte on the staff. Austin Wells, Camilo Doval and Amed Rosario played for the Dominican Republic. Jazz Chisholm Jr. played for Great Britain. Jose Caballero played for Panama. Fernando Cruz played for Puerto Rico.
Jorge Posada was Italy's hitting coach.
Tampa Bay sent Junior Caminero to the Dominican Republic and Jonathan Aranda to Mexico.
Venezuela beat Judge's Team USA 3-2 in the final.
The last time they met in October
Tampa Bay beat New York in five games in the 2020 American League Division Series, played at a neutral site in San Diego during the pandemic.
The Rays went 5-2 against the Yankees at Tropicana Field this season.
Tampa Bay's injuries
Shane McClanahan is on the 15-day list with a forearm injury. Ryan Pepiot, Gavin Lux, Jacob Melton, Jon Heasley and Edwin Uceta are all on the 60-day.
The series schedule
Game 1 — Saturday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. ET, St. Petersburg
Game 2 — Sunday, Oct. 4, 8 p.m. ET, St. Petersburg. Cam Schlittler starts for New York.
Game 3 — Tuesday, Oct. 6, New York
Game 4 — Wednesday, Oct. 7, New York, if necessary
Game 5 — Friday, Oct. 9, St. Petersburg, if necessary
All on TBS and truTV. The winner plays in the American League Championship Series beginning Oct. 12.
The rest of Saturday
Chicago beat Cleveland 3-0 in ALDS Game 1. Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer off Parker Messick and Colson Montgomery doubled home a third run in the seventh. The White Sox lead that series 1-0.
Los Angeles leads Atlanta 5-1 in the sixth at Dodger Stadium. Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run homer in the fourth, Kyle Tucker added a two-run shot in the sixth and Max Muncy followed with a solo. Sean Murphy homered for the Braves.
Padres at Brewers, 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Jacob Misiorowski makes his first career postseason start against Robbie Ray. Walker Buehler is on the paternity list and Randy Vasquez replaces him on the San Diego roster.