Tampa Bay @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 16, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 4, NY Yankees 5
Don’t try to convince the Tampa Bay Rays that “The Boss” still isn’t pulling the strings at Yankee Stadium.
On a night when the New York Yankees honored late owner George Steinbrenner and public address announcer Bob Sheppard, the Rays were mere foils for another magical moment in the Bronx.
Nick Swisher delivered a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning to give the Yankees a dramatic walk-off victory over Tampa Bay on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series between the AL East heavyweights.
It was a fitting – and almost expected – ending to an emotional night which featured a video tribune to Steinbrenner during a 20-minute pregame ceremony.
Maybe the only surprise was Swisher playing the starring role. His game-winning hit came immediately after captain Derek Jeter struck out and lifted the Yankees to their ninth win in 10 games.
Swisher also had tied the game with a towering home run in the eighth inning as New York twice erased two-run deficits and opened a three-game lead over Tampa Bay atop the AL East.
Now the Rays must pull themselves off the mat after enduring just their third loss in the last 13 games.
Only one problem: Emotions will be ratcheted up again Saturday for Old-Timers Day at Yankee Stadium, when the club’s 1950 World Series winners will be honored. Among the Yankee legends expected to attend are Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra.
Maybe Berra’s presence will remind the Rays that it ain’t over ’til it’s over, but Tampa Bay could starter Jeff Niemann could go a long way to stemming the Yankees’ momentum with a victory on Saturday.
Niemann (7-2) has pitched exceptionally well this season, as evidenced by his 2.77 ERA, but he only has one victory in his last six starts and has only gotten past the seventh inning in one of them.
The 6-9 right-hander has pitched fairly well against the Yankees, going 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA in three career starts. He’ll have to figure a way to get out Jeter, who is 4-for-5 with two doubles against Niemann.
The Yankees will counter with right-hander A.J. Burnett, who looks to be slowly regaining his form after a disastrous month of June that saw his lose all five starts and surrender 29 runs in the process.
In his last outing at Oakland on July 7, Burnett went seven strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits to earn his first victory since May 30.
Burnett has enjoyed tremendous success in his career against the Rays, sporting a 12-5 mark with a 2.98 ERA in 23 starts. He is 1-1 this season against them, but was cuffed around for six runs on nine hits in Tampa Bay’s 10-6 victory on May 19.
Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria have had the most success against Burnett, batting .340 and .367, respectively.