New York @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2011 ) NY Yankees 2, Tampa Bay 5

THE STORY: The Tampa Bay Rays, down nine games early in September, have made it all the way to the top in the American League wild card race with the Boston Red Sox. With two games left, the Rays will send Jeremy Hellickson to the mound Tuesday against the visiting American League East champion New York Yankees. Tampa Bay, which has four of five, has won 28 straight games when it has scored five runs or more after the 5-2 victory over the Yankees on Monday. The Rays are 10-3 at home in September.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), SunSports (Tampa Bay)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Bartolo Colon (8-10, 4.02 ERA) vs. Rays RH Jeremy Hellickson (13-10, 2.90).

Colon has allowed 13 runs - 11 earned - in seven innings in his last two starts. He has not won since July 30, going 0-4. Colon has 132 strikeouts and 38 walks in 159 innings, his most work since 2005. He has struggled (0-3, 6.60 ERA) against the Rays in 2011, but is 9-5 in his career with a 3.98 ERA against Tampa Bay. Ben Zobrist is 5-for-9 with two homers against Colon. Hellickson is 2-0 in his last four starts, giving up seven runs in 27 2/3 innings, and still has a chance to win the Rookie of the Year award. He is 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA against the Yankees this season and 2-1 in his career with a 4.09 ERA. Robinson Cano is 5-for-9 with two homers and four RBIs against Hellickson.

ABOUT THE YANKEES (97-63): Cano is heading into the playoffs swinging the bat well. He has hit in his last seven games, going 9-for-26 with two homers and six RBIs. Cano set a career-high with 118 RBIs and has 28 homers - one short of his 2010 total. Alex Rodriguez has two games left to catch Ken Griffey on the all-time home run list. Griffey is fifth with 630 and Rodriguez has 629. Curtis Granderson has struggled a bit down the stretch, going 1-for-18 in the last five games. He has 41 homers, two behind Toronto’s Jose Bautista for the major league lead.

ABOUT THE RAYS (89-71): There was plenty of trade talk surrounding B.J. Upton near the end of July and even in August when the Rays seemed to be too far out of the playoff race. But Upton stayed in Tampa Bay and that has paid off for the Rays. Upton is batting .348 in September with five homers and 19 RBIs. Catcher Kelly Shoppach is batting .181, but he has played a bit more lately because manager Joe Maddon likes his defense. The veteran has rewarded that confidence with three homers in his last four games and five hits in 14 at-bats. The Rays have made the least errors in the majors (72).

FINAL PITCH: Rays’ third baseman Evan Longoria needs three RBIs to become the 13th player in major league history to have 100 homers and 400 RBIs after his first four seasons.