Schlittler on the mound as Yankees look to salvage finale against Rays at Tropicana Field

The New York Yankees send Cam Schlittler to the mound on Sunday with a clear mandate: shut down the Tampa Bay Rays and prevent a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field.

Schlittler has been a revelation on the road this season, delivering 11 2/3 scoreless innings across two away assignments while surrendering just three hits and punching out 15 batters. Opponents have managed a pitiful .079 batting average against him. The right-hander also pitched effectively at Tropicana Field last year, allowing a single hit over 6 2/3 shutout innings before the Yankees eventually won in extra frames.

The ace leads all starting pitchers in the early stages of this campaign with a remarkable 0.48 WHIP, and he remains the only pitcher on the leaderboard's front page yet to issue a walk through 16 2/3 innings of work. His composure and control have made him the ideal anchor for a Yankees rotation that leads the majors in fewest runs allowed per game, conceding just 2.79.

The Rays will start Drew Rasmussen, who has been solid in his two outings, permitting only two earned runs. However, his availability is in doubt following the birth of his second child. Should Rasmussen be unavailable, Jesse Scholtens has been recalled from Triple-A Durham to serve as the fallback option. That uncertainty in the starting assignment gives New York a meaningful edge before the first pitch is even thrown.

Tampa's bullpen compounds the concern. After Rasmussen completes his five innings or so, the relief corps has collapsed spectacularly, coughing up 15 additional runs across his two starts and losing both games. The Rays' relief ERA of 6.04 ranks second-worst across Major League Baseball, an alarming figure that could prove costly in a competitive AL East race.

The Rays themselves sit ninth in the majors in scoring at 4.6 runs per game, but running into Schlittler in this form is a different proposition entirely. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET. The Yankees are slight favourites on the moneyline, and with their ace dealing and Tampa's bullpen in disarray, there is good reason to believe New York can get off the mat before heading home.