GameDay Preview: Rays Head To Fenway For Friday Game on Apple TV Only

The Tampa Bay Rays have had their way with the Boston Red Sox lately, winning eight of 10 games this season. They've been great at Fenway Park the past four years, going 17-8 since the start of the 2019 season. They start a three-game series on Friday night, and the game can be seen only on Apple TV.

BOSTON, Mass. — The Tampa Bay Rays are on fire, having won six in a row and 11 of their past 13 games. They're off to Boston on Friday night after completing a 7-1 home stand, looking to stay hot.

The Rays will be using an ''opener'' for the 17th time this season, with JT Chargois getting the start. He just came back off the injured list, but has looked good in his first two appearances. The Rays are 9-7 when using an opener this season.

Fenway Park is usually a tough place to win, but the Rays have been great there. Since 2019, the Rays are 18-7 at Fenway Park, while all other visitors are 108-120 there.

The game can be seen on AppleTV-Plus only tonight. It's free to watch, but you do need to have an Apple ID. And getting it is very simple. There is no Bally Sports broadcast.

Here's what you need to know from Apple:

• The game is available to watch for free only on Apple TV+.
• On Apple Music, fans can find exclusive playlists of batters’ walk-up songs from teams featured in this week’s “Friday Night Baseball” games —the Chicago White Sox, the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Seattle Mariners — as well as a collection of classic songs celebrating baseball.
• Scheduled games are available to anyone with internet access, for free, only on Apple TV+. Users can find step-by-step instructions to access “Friday Night Baseball” across devices.
• Fans can access “Friday Night Baseball” games and additional content, including new exclusive programs such as “Countdown to First Pitch” for a preview of this week’s matchups, and “MLB Daily Recap,” only in the Apple TV app.
• “Friday Night Baseball” games will be available to anyone with internet access across devices where Apple TV+ can be found, including on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and HD, and on tv.apple.com, along with smart TVs, gaming consoles, and cable set-top boxes. “Friday Night Baseball” will be available on Apple TV+ in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, and for a limited time, without the need for a subscription.

Here's how to watch Friday's game, with gametime and TV information, the starting lineups and bios.

How to watch Rays at Red Sox

• Who: Tampa Bay Rays (69-55) at Boston Red Sox (60-65)
• When: 7:10 p.m. ET, Friday, Aug. 26
• Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.
• TV: AppleTV-Plus only. To watch online, CLICK HERE
• Stream: AppleTV-Plus only
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 179 (Red Sox broadcast; Rays online only)
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
• Latest Line: Boston is favored at minus-116 on the money line according to the Fanduel.com website line as of Friday morning.The Rays are plus-102. The over/under is 9. which seems high.

Rays-Red Sox this season 

• Rays vs. Red Sox in 2022: The Rays are 8-2 against the Red Sox so far. this season, and Friday starts a stretch of six games in less than two weeks. 

Projected starting pitchers

• JT Chargois, Tampa Bay:  JT Chargois is the ''opener'' for the Rays on Friday night, with Ryan Yarbrough expected to throw the bulk of the innings. Chargois got hurt the first week of the season, and just came back last week. He pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday, and then got the win on Wednesday when the Rays won 4-3 in extra innings.
• Michael Wacha, Boston: Michael Wacha really struggled last year when he pitched for Tampa Bay, but he's been great for the Red Sox this year and has been the one bright spot in their rotation. He's 8-1 this season with a 2.28 ERA, and hasn't lost since late May. In his two August starts since missing six weeks, he's pitched 12 2/3 scoreless innings in wins over the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles.

Projected starting lineups

• Tampa Bay: Yandy Diaz, 3B, Brandon Lowe 2B, Randy Arozarena RF, Harold Ramirez DH, David Peralta LF, Jose Siri CF, Francisco Mejia C, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Taylor Walls SS, JT Chargois P
• Boston:  Tommy Pham LF, Alex Verdugo RF, J.D. Martinez DH, Xavier Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo 3B, Franchy Cordero 1B, Enrique Hernandez 2B, Kevin Plawecki C, Jarren Duran CF, Michael Wacha P.