MLB: New York Yankees - Tampa Bay Rays

The Yankees are a strong team, clearly, You don’t make it as high up in the standings as they have without a deep roster and a lot of talent. That being said, they’re also missing two key components to their team. Not only are they down their top scorer, but they’ve also now lost their best batter. Those are two holes that the rest of the team is going to have a fill. However, filling the place of Judge and LeMahieu is just not something most players are equipped to do. They’re some of the best in the business, which means that the Yankees are going to have to work twice as hard to get the results that they would normally see with their full, healthy roster. Besides that, they’re also going to be fighting a team that has had a day off to recover. In a season with a schedule so hectic that a single day off every two weeks is a boon, that single day of rest is a huge advantage for the Rays. Tampa has an open door to push their way up the division’s standings with this game, and it would be surprising if they didn’t walk through it.

This is another thing that might come down to the Rays being able to rest for a day before starting off this extremely important series. It’s a simple equation of more rest meaning that they can bring more energy into the game. And more energy means, nine times out of ten, more scoring. Again, it can’t be stressed enough how important this series is for these teams. With them being so close in the standings, the position for the top dog in the division is up for grabs. Both of these teams, regardless of rest or not, are going to be bringing their all to either seize that title or hold on to it. Today is sure to be a high impact game between two very talented rosters, and that kind of play almost always leads to a high score.