New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays contest will be pitchers war – MLB Preview
The Rays and the Yankees have fought 12 times this season and the Yankees lead 7-5 as the upcoming game is not as crucial for the Yankees as it for the Rays.
After the Rays dropped to a humiliating 0-5 series opener, a critical situation has created for the club in their road to playoffs. Rays being in the fourth position and three games behind the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers has to face the Yankees for
the second outing with the hope of cutting their Wild-Card lead to two games.
Rays will land their relatively strong pitcher James Shield on the mound to square the Yankees injury stricken Phil Hughes. Shields has contested the Yankees three times this season and has achieved only one win. However, only the first of his previous three
outings was bad, as he gave away eight hits, four runs and three RBIs over seven innings. He made a solid rebound and tossed a one-run eight innings in the second and then made little more improvement to snatch his first win over the Yankees in three attempts.
This might be his last try against the rival club and he will be looking to square the account at 2-all. His loss in the previous outing against the Boston Red Sox will also urge him to improve his pitching performance.
His game could not turn into a win without having a solid back up from the batters. Desmond Jennings, B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Johnny Damon struggled against Ivan Nova but the Rays could not bear the same performance in this outing.
The Yankees on the other hand, have to get only one win to cement their place in the post-season. They have 93 wins and tomorrow will be a chance to be the first American League club to enter into the playoffs.
Their starter Hughes has played only a single outing with Tampa Bay Rays and the game was in favour of the Yankees, who won it with a score of 9-2. The best thing for the Yankees is the winning momentum Hughes has shown in his last two outings. The right-hand
pitcher has a strong back but his high ERA creates little doubt in his mind, but not in Joe Girardi.
"I'm not worried about the postseason right now. Right now, I'm worried about winning games," Girardi said. "I'm not going to worry about the rotation. I've been asked for the last two months about, 'When you get to the playoffs ... ?' We have to get in.
As far as being worried about it, I'm worried about this week, not what's maybe going to happen in the future."
Curtis Granderson is enjoying the best ever form of his career. His hard hitting has provided some relief for the Yankees in difficult times. Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, captain Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano will be available to back the Yankees.
It will be interesting to see if the Rays can manage to restrict the powerful Yankees’ offence in the game. The Rays will be looking to come out aggressively against the Yankees early and try to dominate the game. Both teams will be fighting it out, as the
Rays are desperate for a good showing so that they can advance into the post-season.
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