Who Is Pitching for the Yankees in Game 2 of ALDS vs. Rays?

After dropping Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night in heartbreaking fashion, the New York Yankees will try to tie the series at 1-1 in Game 2 on Monday night.

The Yankees got a solid effort from Gerrit Cole, who allowed five hits, one earned run (a home run), a walk, and struck out five in five innings in Game 1. However, New York’s offense could not solve Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who was on the verge of throwing a no-hitter until catcher Austin Wells broke it up in the eighth inning. Wells also made a base-running mistake, trying to stretch a double into a triple.

That was the only hit the Yankees’ offense registered, as Rasmussen allowed two walks and struck out 10 in eight innings. Needless to say, New York will hope for better success against veteran Freddy Peralta, who will be on the mound for Tampa Bay in Game 2.

Peralta will face Cam Schlittler, who is coming off a dominant performance against the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series. The Yankees will need Schlittler at his best for them to stand a chance in this game and turn this series into a best-of-three after tonight.

Below, we’ll break down this pitching matchup further, looking at how these guys have fared this season, their postseason experience, and more.

Game 2 of the ALDS, Oct. 5 (8:05 p.m. ET): Cam Schlitter (NYY) vs. Freddy Peralta (TB)

Cam Schlittler

As we just mentioned, the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award is coming off a great pitching performance against the Red Sox last week to kick off the playoffs.

The 25-year-old right-handed hurler threw a career-high 117 pitches in Game 1 as the Yankees shut out the Red Sox, 9-0. Schlittler surrendered two hits and a walk while striking out 10 in 6.1 innings.

That performance lowered Schlittler's career postseason ERA to 0.87. At this rate, we should expect Schlittler to dominate no matter the team he faces. In last week’s playoff win, he registered 23 swinging strikes, which speaks to how good his stuff was. In the regular season, he only had two starts with 20 or more swinging strikes.

Schlittler will face a Tampa Bay squad he played against three times during the regular season. In those contests, he was 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA, holding the Rays’ bats to a .226 average.

In the game he lost (April 12), Schlittler was hit around. He allowed seven hits, three earned runs, and a walk, but struck out eight in five innings. The Rays won 5-4 at Tropicana Field.

That being said, the Yankees and their fans should be confident in Schlittler on the mound, as he’s been as advertised this season. In the second half of the regular season, he has a 1.80 ERA in 13 starts. And on the road during the regular season, Schlittler has a 1.16 ERA and is holding batters to a .153 average in 17 starts.

Freddy Peralta

Peralta has pitched well down the stretch for the Rays, which is better than he did in his four starts after the trade deadline. The veteran pitcher, who started the season with the New York, pitched to a 7.17 ERA. He allowed 23 hits, 17 earned runs (five home runs), six walks, and struck out 16 in 21.1 innings.

It seemed as if the Rays lost that trade and Peralta would be a bust in the second half. However, something clicked for the former Met at the end of August and going into September.

In his last six regular-season starts, Peralta is 5-0 with a 0.79 ERA. He only surrendered three earned runs (one homer) and 18 hits, despite giving up nine walks and striking out 27 in 34 innings.

In three of those starts, Peralta threw at least six innings. The veteran also had four starts where he registered 10 or more swinging strikes. This will be Peralta’s first time facing the Yankees as a Ray, but he saw New York earlier this season as a Met.

In that start on May 17, Peralta allowed three earned runs (a home run), two hits, and six walks, while striking out four in five innings. The Yankees went on to lose that game 7-6 in 10 innings. Peralta's lone home run was given up to Ben Rice.

Yankees fans hope Rice can do something similar against Peralta, who leans on the four-seamer (53% utilization), per Baseball Savant. Left-handed hitters are hitting .275 with eight home runs off it. Meanwhile, Rice is hitting .320 with 20 home runs against right-handed pitchers who throw him a fastball (this includes the three postseason games).

Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in Tampa Bay as the Yankees try to avoid going into a 0-2 hole.

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