Tampa Bay @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2014 ) Tampa Bay 4, NY Yankees 3

The Tampa Bay Rays' postseason hopes may have faded away, but they are doing their best to make the same thing happen to the New York Yankees. The Rays dealt another blow to New York's playoff chances with a 4-3 victory in Tuesday's series opener - their fifth consecutive win at Yankee Stadium and ninth in 14 overall meetings this season. Tampa Bay's James Loney carries a .419 average this season at Yankee Stadium into Wednesday's middle contest of the three-game set.

With only 20 games remaining in the regular season, New York is 5 1/2 back in the race for the second wild card in the American League and also must leapfrog three other teams. The Yankees received bad news on the injury front Tuesday, when an MRI exam revealed a slight abdominal strain for left fielder Brett Gardner, causing him to sit out his third consecutive game. Gardner already has hit 16 homers - double his previous career high - and has been batting third in a struggling lineup.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Jake Odorizzi (10-11, 3.84 ERA) vs. Yankees LH Chris Capuano (2-3, 4.46)

Odorizzi is coming off back-to-back dazzling performances, beating Boston with seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball before settling for a no-decision against Toronto despite allowing three hits over 7 1/3 scoreless frames. Those two outings followed a disastrous start at Baltimore in which he surrendered four homers and eight runs. Odorizzi is 1-0 in two starts versus the Yankees, yielding six runs over 9 2/3 innings.

Capuano was victimized by the long ball in his last start, giving up three homers in 4 1/3 innings against Boston, but managed to escape with a no-decision. He earned his only victory since joining the Yankees in his previous turn, going 6 2/3 frames while permitting three runs (two earned) at Toronto. Capuano made a pair of relief appearances against the Rays while with Boston this season, not allowing a hit in 2 1/3 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Loney is batting .382 in 13 games against New York this season.

2. Yankees DH Carlos Beltran is 4-for-31 with one extra-base hit in his last 10 contests.

3. Rays 3B Evan Longoria has collected 24 RBIs in his last 25 games.

PREDICTION: Rays 5, Yankees 4