Yankees vs. Rays Series Preview

Yankees vs. Rays
Yankee Stadium
(3 games)

And so begins the final homestand at the greatest stadium in the world, and sadly the games don't mean a damn thing. Well, at least they don't for the Yankees. The Rays come into this series fighting to hold on to first place in the AL East, leading Boston by 2.5. They're coming off a big series where they took two out of three from the Red Sox in Boston, and have the second best record in the league at 87-57.

The Yankees enter this series 11 games behind the Rays in the division, and 8.5 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card. They also trail Toronto by two games, and sit in 4th place in the AL East. You would hope that maybe this last homestand could get this team playing with a little bit of pride. To even make it interesting the Yankees are going to have to win every single one of their final games, and could still very likely miss the playoffs, so pride is pretty much all they've got left.

Unlike all other AL East teams, the Yanks have actually played very well against the Rays this season. They're currently leading the season series 9-6.

MATCHUPS

Game 1 - Today @ 7:05 p.m.
TV: MY9; Radio: WCBS 880
Sidney Ponson RHP (8-5, 5.10) vs. James Shields RHP (12-8, 3.64)

Game 2 - Tomorrow @ 1:05 p.m.
TV: YES; Radio: WCBS 880
Mike Mussina RHP (17-8, 3,48) vs. Matt Garza RHP (11-9, 3.55)

Game 3 - Sunday @ 1:05 p.m.
TV: YES; Radio: WCBS 880
Carl Pavano RHP (2-1, 5.31) vs. Edwin Jackson RHP (11-10, 4.06)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Yankees - Derek Jeter: The Captain needs just 9 hits to tie Lou Gehrig for number one all time in hits at Yankee Stadium, so that's something to watch for.

He's having a good month of September so far, hitting .324/.468/.486 with 2 HR and 7 RBI.

Jeter is hitting .308/.375/.449 with 16 HR, and 102 RBI in his career vs. the Rays. This season he has not done as well, but has still had a good season against them, hitting .279/.323/.410 with a homer and 11 RBI.

Jeter vs. Shields: 7-for-22, HR, 5 RBI, .318/.348/.500
Jeter vs. Garza: 2-for-9, RBI, .222/.300/.222
Jeter vs. Jackson: 8-for-22, HR, 4 RBI, .364/.440/.591

Rays - Carlos Pena: With all the injuries the Rays have (Upton, Longoria, and Crawford) who else is there to pick? Pena isn't a bad choice, though. He does lead the team in HR (28), RBI (88), R (82), and OPS (.867)

Pena has not had a great year against the Yanks, hitting just .222/.382/.370, with 2 HR and 4 RBI. In his career against the Yanks he's hitting .232/.363/.464 with 11 HR and 26 RBI. And at Yankee Stadium he's hitting .190/.333/.420, with 6 HR and 12 RBI.

Pena vs. Ponson: 5-for-12, HR, 3 RBI, .417/.533/.833
Pena vs. Mussina: 6-for-23, RBI, .261/.393/.304
Pena vs. Pavano: 0-for-1, 2 BB

INJURY REPORT

Yankees:
- Chien-Ming Wang is out for the year with a mid-foot tearing of the Lisfranc ligament and a partial tear of the peroneal longus tendon.
- Jonathan Albaladejo is pitching in minor league games, and could get called up after the minor league playoffs have ended.
- Jorge Posada is out for the remainder of the season after having shoulder surgery.

Rays:
- B.J. Upton is day-to-day with a quad injury, Joe Maddon said it's "possible" he could return this weekend.
- Evan Longoria is day-to-day as he's recovering from an arm injury. He could return this weekend as well.
- Shawn Riggings was removed from the game on Wednesday and will undergo surgery to clean out a bursa sac infection in his right knee.
- Carl Crawford is on the 15-day DL with a sublaxation right middle finger tendon, he's probably out for the remainder of the season.
- Chad Overlla is on the 60-day DL and is out for the year after having right elbow surgery.
- Jae Kuk Ryu is on the 15-day DL after having right shoulder surgery.