Yankees vs. Rays Series Preview

Yankees @ Rays

New Yankee Stadium
(four games)

After once again taking two of three from the AL West leading Rangers the Yankees stay in The Bronx for a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa has taken three of the five games from the Yankees this season, including a two-game sweep of the Yankees on May 6th and 7th. That was just before the Yankees went to Baltimore and got Alex Rodriguez back. Since then the Yanks have won 19 of their last 26 games, and are now tied with the Red Sox for first place in the AL East with a 32-22 record.

This upcoming stretch of games is going to be a big test for the Yankees. Besides taking four of six from the West leading Rangers, much of the winning they've been doing lately has come against weak teams, now they will have ten games against the Rays, Red Sox, and Mets over their next ten. So far they are 2-8 against Tampa and Boston, so they're gonna need to start proving they can beat these guys. Luckily for the Yankees, they're not the same team they were when they last faced these two teams. A-Rod is back, they're hitting, and the starting pitching has been very solid.

Tampa has not had an easy start to their season after winning the American League last year. They've been hit by the injury bug, and they can't seem to figure out the back end of their bullpen. Right now Randy Choate is their closer. Yes, the same Randy Choate who pitched for the Yankees from 2000-2003. Even with the injuries they currently are 28-28 and sit just five games behind the Yankees and Red Sox in the division.

Offensively they're being led by Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. Pena is hitting just .229 but he currently leads the AL with 17 homers. Longoria has been their MVP so far, hitting .322/.391/.614 with 13 HR and an AL-leading 55 RBI. And Carl Crawford has also been great, hitting .327/.391/.457, with 4 HR, 26 RBI, and a MLB-leading 34 stolen bases. The key for the Yankees this series will be keeping Crawford off the bases, especially with Posada's dead arm behind the plate.

Even with Scott Kazmir on the DL the Rays still have one of the best starting rotations in baseball. James Shields, Matt Garza and Jeff Niemann have been very good and all have ERAs under 4.00 (Shields - 3.40; Garza - 3.67; Neimann - 3.77), and left-handed phenom David Price was very good in his last outing against the Twins.

The Rays have taken 3 of the first 5 from the Yankees this season. Last year the Yankees won 11 of the 18 games the two teams played.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Today @ 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
LHP CC Sabathia (5-3, 3.46 ERA) vs. LHP David Price (1-0, 3.00 ERA)

Game 2: Tomorrow @ 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
RHP Joba Chamberlain (3-1, 3.71 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Garza (4-4, 3.67 ERA)

Game 3: Sunday @ 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
RHP A.J. Burnett (4-2, 4.69 ERA) vs. RHP Andy Sonnanstine (4-5, 7.07 ERA)

Game 4: Monday @ 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
LHP Andy Pettitte (5-2, 4.33 ERA) vs. RHP Jeff Niemann (5-4, 3.77 ERA)

Players to Watch

YANKEES - Jorge Posada: There's two reasons why I'm picking him as my Yankee to watch this series: 1) He's been on fire with the bat since he came off the DL; 2) He can't throw and the Rays run a lot.

Since coming off the DL a week ago, Jorge is hitting .348/.400/.783 with 3 HR and 6 RBI. Overall he's been very good as well, hitting .320/.402/.630, with 8 HR and 26 RBI. In his career against Tampa he's hitting .268/376/.426, with 17 HR and 92 RBI in 153 games. In three games this year, he's hitting just .200/.250/.300 with 3 RBI against them.

One thing that he hasn't done well since coming off the DL is throwing runners out trying to steal. It will be interesting to see how Girardi handles the lineups against a very fast Rays team. I think Posada should DH at least two of the four the games. Matsui isn't hitting that well, so sitting him on those days isnt' that big a deal.

Posada vs Price: NR
Posada vs. Garza: .400/.500/.400 (2-for-5), 2 RBI
Posada vs. Sonnanstine: .100/.100/.100 (1-for-10), 3 K
Posada vs. Niemann: NR

RAYS - Carl Crawford: The Rays left fielder is the main reason Jorge Posada should spend much of the weekend as the DH. Crawford has already stolen and major league leading 34 bases, and is hitting .327/.391/.457, with 4 HR and 26 RBI.

He's put up very solid numbers against the Yankees in his career, hitting .294/.322/.413, with 4 HR, 49 RBI, and 36 stolen bases in 109 games. In five games against the Bombers this year he's hitting .250/.318/.450 with a homer, 2 RBI, and two stolen bases.

Crawford vs. Sabathia: .240/.240/.320 (6-for-25), 2 doubles, an RBI, 4 strike outs.
Crawford vs. Chamberlain: 0-for-2 with a strikeout
Crawford vs. Burnett: .333/.356/.452 (14-for-42), HR, 3 RBI, 2 doubles, 6 strikeouts
Crawford vs. Pettitte: .273/.314/.303 (9-for-33) 2 RBI, 4 strikeouts

Injury Report

YANKEES:
- Xavier Nady, RF: 15-day DL with an injured right elbow, he could DH if the Yankees wanted him to, but they don't want to activate him until he's played the field.
- Cody Ransom, INF: 60-day DL with a strained right quad, he started playing game in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday.
- Jose Molina, C: On the 15-day DL with a strained left quad. He's in Tampa rehabbing.
- Brian Bruney, RP: 15-day DL with a flexor muscle problem in his forearm. He began his throwing program today.
- Damaso Marte, RP: 15-day DL with a sore shoulder. He's expected to throw a bullpen session on Friday.

RAYS:
- Jason Bartlett, SS: 15-day DL with a sprained left ankle.
- Akinori Iwamura, 2B: 60-day DL with a torn ACL - out for the season.
- Brian Shouse, RP: 15-day DL with a left elbow strain.
- Troy Percival, RP: 15-day DL with right shoudler tendinitis.
- Scott Kazmir, SP: 15-day DL with a right quad strain.
- Pat Burrell, LF: 15-day DL with a neck strain.
- Shawn Riggans, C: 15-day DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
- Fernando Perez, C: 60-day DL with a dislocated right wrist. He'll be out 3-4 months.
- Chad Bradford, RP: 15-day DL as he recovers from right elbow surgery.