The New York Yankees embark on a 10-game road trip with destination number one being a date with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Like the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays have lost two straight games and have found themselves sitting in the last place of the American League East, a position the Yankees got far too comfortable in a few weeks ago.New York’s two-game skid came after the team had won six-straight contests. Now, they anticipate three American League East rivals during their road trip. Toronto and Baltimore are on the team’s GPS following this series.
It was apparent that the Rays were experiencing a turnaround it was evident when the lineup scored 38 runs during their four-game winning streak.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the team owns a 1-5 record since and the pitchers have allowed six runs per game in that span. It’s been the opposite for the visitors as they have received seven quality starts from starting pitchers in the last eight games.
Since the two teams have squared off back in 1998, the Yankees have taken 11 of the season series while owning an 86-72 record at the Trop.
With both teams in the cellar of the division, we should pay witness to an interesting weekend series. Without further adieu, here’s ESNY’s full preview of the series between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
Pitching Matchups:
Masahiro Tanaka (2-0, 3.24 ERA) vs Chris Archer (3-5, 5.16 ERA)
Tanaka is coming off an outing in which he managed seven innings of one-run ball while striking out four as he picked up his second win of the 2016 season.
He’ll be pitching on an extra day’s rest thanks to the off-day this past Monday which will be beneficial to the 27-year old. With extra rest this season, he owns a 1.57 ERA while maintaining a WHIP of .872.
In his lone start in St. Pete, Tanaka tossed seven shutout innings while striking out eight in a two-hit effort.
Archer managed only three innings of work and allowed six runs on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers as he watched his ERA climb to 5.16. In his career against New York, the former All-Star owns a 5-2 record while maintaining a 2.25 ERA.
Michael Pineda (2-5, 6.34 ERA) vs Matt Moore (1-3, 5.47)
Even with a quality start his last time out, Pineda owns a 6.34 ERA in his first nine starts of 2016 including a whopping 64 hits in 49.2 innings of work. Want to scratch your head? His K/9 ratio is 10.1 which ranks twelve in all of Major League Baseball.
He did, however, turn in a quality start last time out against Oakland to help lower his May ERA from 7.02 to 6.34.
Moore is in a similar boat in terms of struggles as the lefty has given up nine home runs already this season despite only working 51 innings on the hill.
Against the Miami Marlins on Monday, he gave up five runs on ten hit in five innings of work.
Nathan Eovaldi (5-2, 3.95 ERA) vs Jake Odorizzi (2-2, 3.46 ERA)
Eovaldi has found the recipe for nastiness as an impeccable mix of a fastball and splitter featuring a change in speed from 97 mph on the fastball to 89 with the split.
Attacking hitters have been the blueprint for success and it has been the cause of his 2.16 ERA in his last four starts including only allowing three hits in his last two starts.
Odorizzi pitched five innings shutout innings against the Marlins on 107 pitches to earn his first scoreless since April 15. In nine games against the Yankees, he owns a 3-4 record with a 5.06 ERA in 48 innings and has surrendered ten home runs.
Key To A Series Win:
Provide Support
The Yankees got a historic, ace-like start from their former ace CC Sabathia but their defense and offense abandoned them in yesterday’s 3-1 loss to Toronto.
Sabathia gave up two runs, none of which were earned while striking out seven batters over seven innings of work. To make the start even better the lefty only surrendered two hits to a high-octane offense.
The only support the lefty got was a solo jack by Starlin Castro. Other than that? His team let him down, to say the least.
Shortstop Didi Gregorius made an error that led to two runs and the offense went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position as they blew one of the best starts by a Yankees’ starting pitcher of the season.
How do they turn this around? Use the formula that led to their previous six-game winning streak in which they supplemented six quality starts with 5.3 runs per game. Timely hitting is the key, and that will lead to a series victory for the New York Yankees.
Players To Watch:
Alex Rodriguez
Despite returning with a 0-for-4 day, A-Rod has a very favorable matchup this weekend.
In his 108 games played at Tropicana Field, Rodriguez has hit 29 home runs and has driven in 71 runs along with a respectable .265/.365/.537 slash line to go with it.
Last season, the then 39-year old DH blasted a 477-foot home run at the Trop and proved he could still change the complexity of a ballgame with one swing of the bat.
Jacoby Ellsbury
Against tonight’s starter (Archer), the Yankees’ center fielder owns a .667/.714/.833 slash line with a 1.548 OPS in 24 at bats against him including one home run.
Want me to make you feel better about Ellsbury’s chances tonight? He’s a career .285 hitter against Tampa Bay and has swiped 36 bases on 48 attempts.
Game Times
- Friday, 7:10 PM ET, WPIX
- Saturday, 4:10 PM ET, WPIX
- Sunday, 1:10 PM ET, WPIX/MLB Network
Bold Predictions:
After losing to Chris Archer in the opening game of the series, the Yankees score a combined 20 runs in the final two games to win the series against their AL East rivals.