Gameday Preview (Friday): Rays Kickoff Three-Game Series vs. Mariners

The Tampa Bay Rays started their 12-game West Coast road trip on a positive note with a series victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Now, they will face a greater test.

The Rays kick off a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday night for the first meeting of the two clubs in the 2025 regular season. It is a matchup with tremendous postseason implications.

Currently, Tampa Bay sits in seventh place in the American League wild card standings, while the Mariners maintain second place. Not only are the Rays 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees for the final wild-card spot in the American League, but they also have to leapfrog the Cleveland Guardians, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals to secure a spot on the doorstep, making the situation more urgent.

Rasmussen Returns Home

Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen will take the mound for the Rays on Friday night in his 23rd start of the season, which serves as something of a homecoming for the All-Star pitcher. Rasmussen was born in Puyallup, WA, about 35 miles south of Seattle.

In four appearances against the Mariners, Rasmussen is 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA. He has 20 strikeouts against Seattle with just one run allowed in 14.2 innings of work.

Both of Rasmussen’s winning decisions against the Mariners came in 2022, and he hasn’t faced the club since 2024. Players on Seattle’s current roster who have faced Rasmussen are hitting .270 (10-for-37) against him. According to MLB.com, the Mariners’ .244 batting average against righties is No. 22 in baseball.

Facing Right-Handers

The Rays will face Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo on Friday. Tampa Bay’s batting order has proven to be more productive against righties than lefties this season.

Against right-handers, the Rays have a slash line of .262/.326/.414 with 90 home runs. Against southpaw pitchers, they have a line of .228/.291/.362 with 36 home runs.

In five appearances against the Rays, Castillo is 2-1 with a 3.30 ERA. In 30 innings of work, the 32-year-old has 30 strikeouts while allowing 26 hits and 11 earned runs. Players on Tampa Bay’s roster who have faced Castillo are hitting .222 (14-for-63) against him.

How to Watch Rays/Mariners

Who: Tampa Bay Rays (57-59, fourth in AL East) vs. Seattle Mariners (63-53, second in AL West).
When: Friday, Aug. 8 at 9:40 p.m. ET.
Where: T-Mobile Park
TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
Betting information: The Mariners are favored on the money line at HardRockBet.com at minus-125 odds, and the money line odds for the Rays are plus-105. On the run line, you can bet the Rays plus-1.5 at minus-210 odds, and the Mariners minus-1.5 at plus-160 odds.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

Rays Batting Order

Chandler Simpson DH
Brandon Lowe 1B
Junior Caminero 3B
Josh Lowe RF
Tristan Peters CF
Jake Mangum LF
Hunter Feduccia C
Taylor Walls SS
Tristan Gray 2B

Mariners Batting Order

Randy Arozarena LF
Cal Raleigh C
Julio Rodriguez CF
Jorge Polanco DH
Eugenio Suarez 3B
Dominic Canzone RF
Donovan Solano 1B
J.P. Crawford SS
Cole Young 2B

Rays Newsy Nuggets

BIRTHDAY BASH: Rays DH/1B Yandy Diaz is celebrating his 34th birthday on Friday, and FanDuel Sports Network play-by-play man Dewayne Staats is celebrating his 73rd birthday. Additionally, bench coach Rodney Linares turned 48 on Thursday.
RED HOT RELIEF: The Rays bullpen has thrown 10.2 straight scoreless innings and has an MLB-leading 1.47 ERA (43 innings pitched, seven earned runs) in the last 11 games since July 27. This is after posting a 6.04 ERA (85 innings pitched, 57 earned runs) over the previous month (June 27-July 26), which was the third-worst mark in baseball.
MULTI-HOMER MADNESS: Rays All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero recorded his third career multi-home run game on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels. All of his multi-homer efforts have come this season, and he surpassed Evan Longoria as the youngest player in Tampa Bay history with a 30-home run season.