TAMPA, FL — It’s very fitting that the first game this Spring Training for the Tampa Bay Rays was visiting the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field. As many who follow MLB know, it will be the temporary home of the Rays during the regular season while the team and St. Petersburg and Pinellas County figure out what to do with Tropicana Field, which was destroyed by Hurricane Milton.
The Trop is still standing, but the roof, the field and the facilities will likely take more than a year of work to be playable again. And this is while the Rays original 30-year agreement to play there is winding down to its final few.
The aftermath of Tropicana Field from Hurricane Milton – Image Credit: AP
Jasson Dominguez, along with new Yankees Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt kicked it off right away in the home half of the first. Leadoff hitter Dominguez reached base on an error by Jonathan Aranda, starting at second base for Tampa Bay. Bellinger and Goldschmidt followed with base hits and the Yankees led 2-0.
Nicknamed “The Martian” in his native Dominican Republic because of his other-worldy baseball skills, Domínguez also figured in New York’s next run in the fourth inning when Rays pitcher Paul Gervais walked the bases loaded and he drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.
Jasson Domínguez will look to make an every day impact this season as the Yankees plan to start him in left field – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Brendan Jones followed with an RBI single to complete the scoring for the afternoon.
Even though both teams played squads missing most of the regulars, and then substituted heavily, as one would expect in early in spring, New York still looked like the AL Champs that they were last season, and the Rays could not do much right. Three Rays errors and not enough pitching or offense led to an outcome that was more reminiscent of 2024 than the successful Tampa Bay seasons that came before it.
The Rays finished in 4th place in the AL East last season at 80-82 – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Yankees manager Aaron Boone celebrated his contract extension that was announced a day earlier with a 4-0 win to open the 2025 Grapefruit League.
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