Yankees at Rays
The New York Yankees are trying to put the American League East out of reach before they even get to the All-Star break and are doing a fine job of turning away their closest competitors. The East-leading Yankees will try to clinch a series win when they visit the Tampa Bay Rays for the third of a four-game series on Saturday afternoon.
New York pushed its lead over the second-place Rays in the AL East to 8 1/2 games with a pair of extra-inning wins in the first two games of the series, showing off the team's power late in both contests. The Yankees, who are winners of 16 of their last 18 and are 7-0 against Tampa Bay and Boston in that span, got a three-run homer from Gary Sanchez to highlight a five-run 10th inning in Thursday's series opener and watched Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner each go deep in the 11th inning of Friday's 8-4 triumph. The Rays dropped their last three games and allowed a total of 25 runs in that span after surrendering 10 runs during a four-game winning streak. Tampa Bay will turn to ace Blake Snell to try to stop the bleeding while New York counters with veteran lefty CC Sabathia.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees LH CC Sabathia (5-4, 4.04 ERA) vs. Rays LH Blake Snell (5-7, 4.87)
Sabathia is coming off back-to-back quality starts for the first time this season and struck out a season-high nine while yielding two runs and six hits in six innings against the Toronto Blue Jays in his last outing on June 24. The 38-year-old got some extra time off due to the team's trip to London and the off-days that surrounded the two-game series versus Boston last weekend. Sabathia last saw Tampa Bay on June 19, when he breezed through six innings on one run and three hits to pick up a win.
Snell broke out of a deep slump by striking out 12 and holding the Texas Rangers to two runs and three hits in six innings on Sunday. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner failed to make it through four innings in any of his previous three outings and was roughed up for a total of 17 runs - 16 earned - and 18 hits in seven innings over that span. The worst start of the bunch came at New York on June 19, when Snell lasted one-third of an inning and was rocked for six runs on two hits and four walks.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rays OF Tommy Pham, who lined out with the bases loaded to end the game on Friday, is 3-for-29 with 12 strikeouts over his last seven games.
2. Sabathia, who is retiring after the season, will take part in next week's All-Star festivities after being invited by the Commissioner's office.
3. Tampa Bay C Mike Zunino homered on Friday - his first blast since May 3.