Tampa Bay @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 8, 2016 ) Tampa Bay 4, NY Yankees 5

Some bargain-basement pieces are paying huge dividends for the New York Yankees, who have surged into postseason contention after unloading some of their higher-priced talent at the trade deadline. New York looks to extend its winning streak to six games when it continues a four-game series against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

Rookie Tyler Austin swatted a walk-off homer in the ninth inning as the Yankees won their season-high fifth straight game to close within two games of Baltimore for the second wild card. All five wins have come at the expense of division opponents, moving New York within four games of first-place Boston in the American League East. Red-hot Kevin Kiermaier belted a pair of homers as part of a four-hit night and Steven Souza Jr. also clubbed two homers for the Rays, who have lost four of five. Tampa Bay sends rookie left-hander Blake Snell to the mound to oppose New York's Michael Pineda on Friday.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), YES (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Blake Snell (5-7, 3.39 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Michael Pineda (6-11, 5.10)

Snell bounced back from a pair of abbreviated outings with a strong performance in his last turn, striking out seven and limiting Toronto to one run on two hits to earn the win. The 23-year-old Snell failed to get through the fourth inning in each of his previous two starts, a pair of losses to Houston and Boston. The rookie is 1-0 in two starts against the Yankees, holding them to a .189 batting average against.

Pineda's winless streak reached five starts when he gave up a pair of runs and five hits over four-plus innings in a no-decision at Baltimore. Pineda was knocked around for five runs in each of his previous two turns and also surrendered five runs and six hits over six innings in a 5-3 loss at Tampa Bay on July 31. Souza has been a nemesis for Pineda, going 8-for-17 with three home runs, three doubles and six RBIs.

WALK-OFFS

1. Kiermaier is riding a 12-game hitting streak.

2. Yankees C Brian McCann is 5-for-11 with three homers over the last three games.

3. The Rays on Thursday signed SS Alexei Ramirez, who was released by San Diego on Sunday.

PREDICTION: Yankees 5, Rays 4