WHY THIS YANKEES VS. RAYS SERIES IS SIGNIFICANT

The Yankees capped off their recent seven-game stretch against the Orioles and Royals with a 10-4 win in Kansas City on Sunday.  Although they only went 3-4 in those 7 games they still come home 2 games over the .500 mark at 15-13. Now, the Yankees get ready for a three-game set in te Bronx starting Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, who are 19-10. Let's take a look at te matchups...

Tuesday:  Ivan Nova vs. James Shields

After starting 3-0 with a 3.78 ERA, Ivan Nova has gone 0-1 in his last two starts with a 8.48 ERA against the Tigers and Orioles, respectively, giving him a 3-1 record with a 5.58 ERA. Nova's saving grace has been strikeouts, (8.2 K - per 9 IP), and, good control, averaging less then 3 BB's per 9 IP.  In order to succeed, Nova's gonna have to keep the ball in the yard against these Rays.  Fortunately for the Yankee, the Rays will be without All Star Evan Longoria.

James Shields has an impressive 5-0 record and 3.05 ERA in six starts for Tampa. He started Opening Day at the Trop against the Yanks, and allowed six runs in five innings so the guy is hittable.  Let's hope the Yankee bats stay hot.

Wednesday:  David Phelps vs. Jeff Niemann

David Phelps will be making his second career start Wednesday. He's 0-1 with a solid 3.74 ERA.  Phelps pitched well against the Royals last week considering it was his first career start.  He went 4 innings only allowing two runs on six hits.  He also struck out five and did not allow a single walk..  Hopefully Phelps can build off of that start and step it up big time against the Rays.

Jeff Niemann will take the hill against the Yanks Wednesday. Niemann is 2-3 with a 4.05 ERA but he's been very good against the Yankees in the past.  He's 3-0 with just a 3.10 ERA against the Bronx Bombers.

Thursday:  CC Sabathia vs. David Price

What can you say, CC Sabathia has been an absolute stud and is pitching like our Ace!. He’s pitched at least eight innings in his last three starts against the Rangers, Tigers, and Royals – three pretty good offenses.  He’ll try to make it four in a row against the Rays in the series finale on Thursday. So far in 2012 CC has a perfect 4-0 record with a 4.15 ERA.  CC's strikeouts are up and his ERA continues to lower after each start.  This third and final game could be a big one for the Yanks.

And the pitcher who will forever be known to Yankee fans as the man who gave us Derek Jeter's 3,000 hit (home run!), David Price will oppose Sabathia. Not surprisingly, Price is off to an incredible 2012.  He is 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA, and that includes his first start of the season against the Yanks when he allowed two runs in 6.1 innings.  Look, Price can be dominant, no doubt about it, but the Yankees have also shown they can hit Price.

Who's hot...

• Derek Jeter has been on fire all season, as he leads MLB with a .397 batting average and has a .439 On Base Percentage. 
• Curtis Granderson is quietly having another solid season.  He's currently hitting .284 with 9 HR(2nd in AL) and 18 RBI. 
•  Nick Swisher -- Leads the team and is 3rd in the AL with 24 RBI.  Incredibly, despite missing 6 games, Swisher still leads the team in RBI.

I don’t like to call series in May “big”, for obvious reasons, but this series is no ordinary series. The Yankees currently sit in fourth place in the AL East and are 3.5 games behind the Rays. I shouldn’t be thinking sweep, but if they do sweep the Rays they’ll be just a half game behind them and would reshuffle the AL East standings.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse


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