NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball switched a pair of series involving the Tampa Bay Rays to the first two months of the season in an attempt to avoid summer weather problems at open-air Steinbrenner Field, their temporary home following damage to Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 13 of its first 16 games at home and 47-of-59 through May 28, then play 69 of its last 103 games on the road. The Rays are home for eight of 25 games in July and eight of 26 in August.
A series scheduled at the Los Angeles Angels from April 7-9 will instead be played at Tampa, Fla., from April 8-10, MLB said Monday. The second series between the teams will be played at Anaheim, Calif., from Aug. 4-6 instead of at St. Petersburg, Fla., from Aug. 5-7.
Minnesota's first series against the Rays will be played at Steinbrenner Field from May 26-28 and the Twins' second will be 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 has a 12-game trip to the Angels, Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco from Aug. 4-17.
Tropicana Field, the Rays' home since the team started play in 1998, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, with most of its fabric roof shredded. The Rays cannot return to the Trop until 2026 at the earliest, if at all.
Tampa's average monthly rainfall from 1991 to 2020 was 2.25 inches in April and 2.60 in May, according to the National Weather Service, then rose to 7.37 in June, 7.75 in July and 9.03 in August before falling to 6.09 in September.
The Class A Tampa Tarpons, Steinbrenner Field's usual team, had six home postponements, two cancellations and four suspended games this year from June 21 through their season finale Sept. 8.
Tampa Bay is now scheduled to play its first six games at home against Colorado and Pittsburgh, go to Texas for a three-game series, then return for a 13-game homestand against the Angels, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Yankees.
Tropicana Field, the Rays' home since the team started play in 1998, was heavily damaged Oct. 9 by Hurricane Milton, with most of its fabric roof shredded. The Rays cannot return to the Trop until 2026 at the earliest, if at all.
The Tarpons will play their home games on a back field.