The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees continue an American League East series Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Tampa Bay hit five home runs to collect a 5-1 series-opening win over the New York Yankees Friday night. The Rays have now won five games in a row and the cut the Yankees lead to 7 1/2 games in the AL Wild Card race. It was also a telling when due to starting pitcher David Price leading the club to a fifth win in all previous match ups with New York ace CC Sabathia. Tampa Bay is now a combined 9-9 versus Boston and New York this season, while also moving its record to 22-9 against divisional foes.
Rays starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson is 10-7 with a 3.05 ERA in 20 starts this season and has led the club to wins in four of his last five outings. The right-hander is coming off a no-decision effort last time out, giving up a single run and six hits over 7 1/3 innings, picking up a 2-1 home victory over the Royals. Hellickson has tallied a winning 6-3 mark and 3.38 ERA in 11 road starts, as opponents are hitting .212 against him. In three career appearances (one start) against the Yankees, the rookie is a perfect 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA, including a 3-2 home win on July 19 (7 IP, 2 ER).
New York was only able to scratch across a single run last night in dropping four of its last six games overall. The Yankees are hoping to have third baseman Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup by next week, as he homered in his first at-bat for Class-A Tampa. He served as the designated hitter and also doubled. The club continues to have problems in series openers, posting a 19-20 record in such contests in 2011. Since the inception of the Tampa Bay franchise, New York has a .638 winning percentage in the series, the highest of any AL club against them over that span.
Yankees starting pitcher Phil Hughes is 2-4 with a 7.11 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) this season and is coming in off a relief appearance. He was handed the loss in a 3-2 road defeat against Boston, allowing a run and two hits in just a third of an inning. The right-hander is searching for his first home win, posting an 0-2 record and 9.16 ERA in four starts, as opponents are hitting an amazing .366 against him. In 10 lifetime appearances (five starts) against the Rays, Hughes is 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA, including a 1-2 mark and 4.74 ERA in three outings last year.
At the time of this writing, the New York Yankees are -139 home favorites and the total stands at 9.5 at Skybook