NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has postponed two series involving the Tampa Bay Rays for the first two months of the season in an effort to avoid summer rain at outdoor Steinbrenner Field, their temporary home following damage to the Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 19 of its first 22 games at home and 37 of its 54 through May 28, then play 64 of its final 108 games on the road. The Rays play eight games each in July and August.
A series scheduled at the Los Angeles Angels from April 7-9 will instead be played in Tampa, Florida, from April 8-10, MLB announced Monday. The second series between the teams will be played in Anaheim, California, August 4-6, rather than St. Petersburg, Florida, August 5-7.
Minnesota’s first series against the Rays will be played at Steinbrenner Field from May 26-28 and the Twins’ second series will be played at Target Field in Minneapolis from July 4-6.
Tampa Bay heads into the All-Star break with a 10-game trip to Minnesota, Detroit and Boston, and a 12-game trip to the Angels, Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco from August 4-17.
Tropicana Field, the Rays’ home since the team began play in 1998, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton on October 9, and most of its fabric roof was shredded. The Rays can’t return to the Trop until 2026 at the earliest, if at all.
Average monthly precipitation in Tampa from 1991 to 2020 was 2.25 inches in April and 2.60 in May, according to the National Weather Service, then increased to 7.37 in June, 7.75 in July and 9, 03 in August before dropping to 6.09 in September.
The Class A Tampa Tarpons, Steinbrenner Field’s regular team, had six home postponements, two cancellations and four suspended games this year, from June 21 until their season finale on September 8.
The Rays are now scheduled to play their first six games at home against Colorado and Pittsburgh, travel to Texas for a three-game series, then return for a 13-game homestand against the Angels, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Yankees. York.
The Tarpons will play their home games on a back court.
