Twins, Rays swap home and away series after Hurricane Milton damages Tropicana Field
FILE - The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson, File)
Thanks to a natural disaster down south (no, not the Chicago White Sox) Minnesota Twins fans can now add a home series at Target Field to their list of potential 2025 Fourth of July weekend plans.
When Hurricane Milton blew from the Gulf of Mexico through the middle of the Florida peninsula in October, strong winds shredded the fabric roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rather than putting together a costly fix of the dome that was on its way toward retirement, the Rays will play their 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees’ open-air, 11,000-seat spring training facility in Tampa.
With the change from a dome to an outdoor venue, Major League Baseball is now switching around some of the Rays’ home series to “optimize the number of games played in the best weather conditions.”
The schedule changes mean the Twins will now host a series at Target Field from July 4-6, and the series scheduled to take place in Minneapolis from May 26-28 will be played at Steinbrenner Field instead.
MLB also swapped two series between the Rays and the Los Angeles Angels.