New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Gerrit Cole vs. Luis Patiño

Good morning/afternoon to you all. Why is it a good morning/afternoon? Because Joey Gallo is officially a Yankee, as the team confirmed the six-player blockbuster that brought the lefty slugger and reliever Joely Rodríguez to the Bronx in exchange for four prospects.

The only downside is that the deal took long enough to finalize with all the moving parts that Gallo is not in the lineup this afternoon. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that he would join the team in Miami on Friday for the start of their three-game set with the Marlins.

So the Yankees will try to sweep the Rays this afternoon without the services of their newest slugger. Since they have Gerrit Cole going for them, they stand a pretty good chance of doing that anyway. The ace had a choppy-at-best start his last time out against the Red Sox in Fenway but has still been arguably the best starter in the American League in 2021. They don’t necessarily need him to be the guy who went nine in a brilliant 1-0 shutout of the Astros on July 10th... but also, I wouldn’t hate seeing that because man, that was fun. (The Rays again won’t have Nelson Cruz in their lineup, so that helps.)

Opposing Cole will be Luis Patiño, who the Rays acquired from the Padres as part of the Blake Snell trade in the offseason. He hasn’t had the smoothest go of it at the big league level, given his 5.26 ERA and 4.17 FIP in seven games, though he did hold the Yankees to one earned run in four innings back on May 11th. Patiño’s definitely talented, so the potential for a breakout performance is always there. Get on him early, just to be safe.

Of minor note: Greg Allen was originally in the Yankees’ starting lineup, playing center and batting ninth. An hour after the lineup was posted though, he was replaced by Estevan Florial. The pitch he took below the knee last night in extras appears to be the culprit, as the Yankees announced that he was removed with “knee soreness.”

We’ll keep you posted on any possible trades that go down on this afternoon as the deadline approaches.

How to watch:

Location: Tropicana Field — St. Petersburg, FL

First pitch: 7:10 pm, EDT

TV Broadcast: YES, ESPN, Bally Sports Sun

Radio Broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280

Online Stream: MLB.tv

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Go Yankees, go baseball.