Gerrit Cole will start for the New York Yankees against Drew Rasmussen and the Tampa Bay Rays in Saturday night’s AL Division Series opener.
Cole was set to start Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against Boston on Thursday but the Yankees swept their division rival. The 36-year-old right-hander, a six-time All-Star, was 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA in 22 starts this season after recovering from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the 2025 season.
Rasmussen was 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA for the Rays and made the All-Star team for the second straight season. The 31-year-old right-hander twice had surgery for a torn ligament in his elbow in college and needed an internal brace procedure in July 2023 that forced him to miss more than a year.
He is 5-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 10 starts and one relief appearance against the Yankees, striking out out 70 in 59 2/3 innings.
Tampa Bay led the AL with 98 wins, earning a bye and home-field advantage at renovated Tropicana Field. They had to play their 2025 home games across the bay in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field — the spring training home of the Yankees — following damage to the Trop caused by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, 2024.
The Rays haven’t won a postseason series since 2020, when they lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They beat the Yankees 3-2 in the Division Series and won the franchise’s second pennant.
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Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press
