Tampa Bay @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 22, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 7, NY Yankees 2
Sequels rarely live up to the original, and that will almost certainly be the case when the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees play the finale of a four-game series Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
A star-studded pitching matchup is on tap with the Rays' David Price set to oppose Yankees ace CC Sabathia.
The two left-handers squared off in Tampa Bay 10 days ago and both pitchers turned in masterpieces in a game won by Tampa Bay 1-0 in 11 innings.
Price (17-6) tossed eight innings of three-hit shutout ball, striking out four and walking two. Sabathia (20-6) matched him and then some, allowing three hits in eight scoreless innings while fanning nine and walking two.
With the Rays trailing the front-running Yankees by 1 1/2 games in the American League East, the onus is on Price to come up big and keep his team in the division hunt.
Price has faced the Yankees three times this season, going 1-1 with a no-decision. The 25-year-old southpaw was roughed up in his lone start at Yankee Stadium on July 18, giving up seven runs and seven hits in five innings.
For his career, Price is 2-1 with a 3.22 ERA in seven appearances - six starts - against New York. Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez have had the most success against him, batting .273 and .263, respectively, with a home run apiece.
Sabathia became a 20-game winner for the first time in his career last time out, limiting the Baltimore Orioles to three runs on seven hits in seven innings Saturday.
The 30-year-old Sabathia is 8-4 with a 2.90 ERA in 19 career starts against Tampa Bay. He will be facing the Rays for the fifth time this season, going 1-1 with a pair of no-decisions.
He has been dominant at Yankee Stadium this season, compiling an 11-1 record with a 2.56 ERA.
Ben Zobrist has had the most success among Tampa Bay hitters against Sabathia, batting .318 (7-for-22) with a home runs and five RBIs. Evan Longoria is 5-for-17 (.294) with two homers and five RBIs.
Longoria went 2-for-4 with a homer and drove in a pair of runs in the Rays' 7-2 victory over the Yankees on Wednesday night. Carl Crawford and Dan Johnson also had solo homers for Tampa Bay.
Lance Berkman and Derek Jeter had two hits apiece for the Yankees. Berkman clubbed his first homer with New York and Jeter extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Both teams were forced to use their bullpens extensively Wednesday night following a rain delay of two hours, 11 minutes. That should not be as much of a worry today with Price and Sabathia on the mound.