Tampa Bay @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 21, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 3, NY Yankees 8
Starting pitching is the reason the Tampa Bay Rays have pushed the New York Yankees all season for baseball's best record.
It's also the reason why the Rays may have blown an opportunity to overtake the reigning World Series champions.
The Yankees, capitalizing on back-to-back mediocre performances by Tampa Bay starters, have won the first two of a four-game series with the Rays to open a 2 1/2-game lead atop the American League East.
In desperate need of a victory, the Rays will send 25-year-old right-hander Wade Davis to the mound Wednesday night. New York will counter with righty A.J. Burnett.
The Yankees scored eight runs for the second straight night to post an 8-3 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night. New York has beaten Tampa Bay in three of the past four meetings, scoring 27 runs in the process.
A five-run first inning, sparked by Nick Swisher's solo homer and Lance Berkman's two-run double against James Shields, put the Yankees in control.
It marked the eighth time in the last 16 games that Tampa Bay pitching has surrendered at least eight runs. Not surprisingly, the Rays are 6-10 in that span.
Shortstop Derek Jeter was among four Yankee players to collect two hits Tuesday, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Davis (12-9) enters tonight’s game riding a seven-game winning streak and hasn’t tasted defeat since June 27. After losing all his five starts in June, he has gone 7-0 with four no-decisions in his next 11 outings.
One of those victories came against the Yankees on July 30, when Davis allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings of a 3-2 victory at Tampa.
Davis also beat New York at Yankee Stadium on May 19, allowing two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. But he lost his first start of the year to the Yankees on April 10, giving up four runs on seven hits in six innings.
Robinson Cano is 5-for-11 against Davis, while Jeter is 5-for-12 and Alex Rodriguez is 4-for-11 with a pair of home runs.
Burnett (10-13) has enjoyed success against the Rays in his career, going 12-6 with a 3.16 ERA in 24 lifetime starts.
Those positive results haven’t carried over to this season, though. After a strong effort in beating the Rays in the second game of the season, Burnett has had the tables turned on him, losing his last two outings – both at home - against Tampa Bay.
Burnett lasted a season-low two-plus innings last time he faced the Rays, giving up four runs on four hits in a 10-5 loss on July 17.
He has had trouble with both Evan Longoria, who is batting .387 (12-for-31) and Carl Crawford, who is hitting .327 (17-for-51) against him.