Game Day Preview: Ryan Pepiot, Max Fried Set to Face Off in Rays' Opener vs. Yankees

Fresh off a sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals, the Tampa Bay Rays are looking to get their feet back under them in a key road series against a division rival in the New York Yankees.

San Diego, California, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot (44) delivers during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays followed up their recent five-game winning streak with a three-game losing streak, making their showdown with the New York Yankees all the more important.

Friday marks the Rays' first contest in the Bronx in 2025. They trail the first-place Yankees by 4.0 games in the AL East standings, sitting in fourth place behind the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

Ryan Pepiot will be getting the ball rolling on the mound, going head-to-head with All-Star southpaw Max Fried.

Here's everything you need to know about the game:

How to watch Yankees-Rays

• Who: New York Yankees (18-13) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (14-17)
• When: Friday, May 2 at 7:05 p.m. ET
• Where: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, New York
• TV: FanDuel Sports Sun, Tampa Bay 44, MLB Network (Out-of-Market Only)
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
• Betting information: The Yankees are favored on the money line at FanDuel.com at minus-250, while the Rays' money line odds are plus-205. On the run line, you can bet the Rays plus-1.5 at plus-104 odds and the Yankees plus-1.5 at minus-125 odds. The over/under is 8.5 runs.
• Weather: At 7 p.m. ET in New York, the temperature forecast is 80 degrees and partly cloudy with winds out of the southwest at 9 miles per hour. The chance of rain is 15 percent for the game.

Yankees Starting Lineup

1. Trent Grisham CF
2. Aaron Judge RF
3. Ben Rice DH
4. Paul Goldschmidt 1B
5. Cody Bellinger LF
6. Anthony Volpe SS
7. Austin Wells C
8. Oswaldo Cabrera 3B
9. Jorbit Vivas 2B

Rays Starting Lineup

1. Chandler Simpson CF
2. Yandy Diaz DH
3. Junior Caminero 3B
4. Jonathan Aranda 1B
5. Christopher Morel LF
6. Jose Caballero SS
7. Kameron Misner RF
8. Curtis Mead 2B
9. Danny Jansen C

Yankees-Rays Starting Pitchers

• MAX FRIED, NYY: Fried enters Friday 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA on the season, already live up to the eight-year, $218 million contract he inked over the offseason. He took the mound against the Rays on April 20, allowing two hits and two walks over 7.2 scoreless innings. That was his third career start against Tampa Bay, and he has now given up just one earned run in 21.1 innings of action.

• RYAN PEPIOT, TB: While most of Pepiot's stats this season are career-worsts, he has continued to eat up innings for the Rays. He has lasted at least 5.0 innings in each of his six starts, allowing more than three earned runs just once. He gave up six hits, a walk and three earned runs against the Yankees back on April 20, losing his prior battle with Fried. He is 2-3 with a 4.24 ERA, 1.382 WHIP, 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.2 WAR through one month of the season.

Related Rays stories

• BAZ ROUGHED UP IN LOSS: Shane Baz has been Tampa Bay's best pitcher through the first month of the season, but he got pounded on Thursday, giving up seven runs to the Kansas City Royals in an 8-2 rout. It was the Royals first sweep in Tampa Bay since 1998. CLICK HERE

• ROYALS ROOKIE BAFFLES RAYS: Kansas City pitcher Noah Cameron made his major-league debut Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, and all he did was take a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He gave up one hit, and the Royals won easily, 3-0. CLICK HERE

• TOM BREW COLUMN: A players-only meeting last Wednesday helped clear the air in the Tampa Bay Rays' clubhouse, and they immediately rattled off five straight wins. They are playing well in all phases, and rookie Chandler Simpson has been a huge spark. CLICK HERE

You can follow Sam Connon on Twitter @SamConnon.