Rays at Yankees
The New York Yankees are in sole possession of first place in the American League East and look to beat the visiting Tampa Bay Rays for the fifth consecutive time in Tuesday's middle game of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Catcher Brian McCann belted a solo homer among his two hits as New York continued its early-season domination of the Rays, outscoring them 23-8 in the four meetings.
The Yankees have been getting stellar production from their bullpen, with Andrew Miller becoming first pitcher in franchise history to register eight saves in the team's first 20 games. Setup man Dellin Betances has been overpowering, not allowing a hit and striking out 11 in six innings over his last five appearances. Tampa Bay had its five-game winning streak snapped and dropped one game behind New York in the division. Monday's matchup was the opener of a nine-game road trip for the Rays, who send Jake Odorizzi to the mound to face Chase Whitley on Tuesday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Jake Odorizzi (2-1, 1.65 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Chase Whitley (2014: 4-3, 5.23)
Odorizzi keeps churning out quality starts, although he did not factor in the decision after limiting Boston to one run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings last time out. His only loss came at the hands of New York on April 18, when he permitted three runs while striking out a season-high nine in six innings. He is 2-2 with a 4.66 ERA against the Yankees and has surrendered five homers in 29 innings against them.
Whitley will be promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make his first start of the season and give ace Masahiro Tanaka an extra day between outings. The 25-year-old Alabama native went 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in his first three turns in the minors, strikeout out 13 and walking six over 17 innings. Opposing batters hit .308 in Whitley's 24 appearances with the Yankees last year, half of which were starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira was 0-for-4 Monday hours after he was named the American League Player of the Week.
2. Rays 3B Evan Longoria is 13-for-23 during a six-game hitting streak.
3. Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez remains one homer behind Willie Mays (660) for fourth place on the all-time list.