NEW YORK — Major League Baseball moved 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 outdoor Steinbrenner Field, their temporary home. after the damage at 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 will play eight of 25 games at home in July and eight of 26 in August. A series scheduled at the Los Angeles Angels on April 7-9 will be played in Tampa, Florida, on April 8-10, MLB said Monday. The second series between the teams will be played in Anaheim, California, from August 4-6, instead of St. Petersburg, Florida, from August 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. The Class A Tampa Tarpons, Steinbrenner Field’s regular team, had six home postponements, two cancellations and four games called off this year from June 21 through their season finale on Sept. 8. Tampa Bay is now scheduled to hold its first six games at home against Colorado and Pittsburgh, go to Texas for a three-game series, then return for a 13-game home series against the Angels, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Yankees. Tropicana Field, the Rays’ home since the team began play in 1998, was severely damaged by Hurricane Milton on October 9, with most of its roof destroyed. The Rays can’t return to the Trop until 2026 at the earliest, if then.MLB changed a couple of Tampa Bay Rays series to avoid weather problems at Steinbrenner Field in the summer
