Rays at Yankees
The Tampa Bay Rays still hope to track down the New York Yankees in the American League East and performing well in a four-game series this week would put them in a much better position. The Rays will try to knock one game off their deficit in the American League East when they visit the Yankees on Monday in the opener of the set.
Tampa Bay enters the week six games behind New York in the AL East and leading the wild card race on the strength of its pitching staff, which leads the majors in runs allowed (346) and came up just short of the first combined perfect game in major league history on Sunday. "It hurts a little bit knowing it had never been done before," Rays catcher Mike Zunino told reporters after watching opener Ryne Stanek and long man Ryan Yarbrough come up three outs short of perfection. "But it's something that we're going to be talking about for a long time." The Yankees are pitching well of late also and allowed a total of four runs while taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend. New York will turn to left-hander James Paxton, who has a no-hitter on his resume, in the opener on Monday while the Rays counter with ace lefty Blake Snell.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Blake Snell (5-7, 4.70 ERA) vs. Yankees LH James Paxton (5-4, 4.01)
Snell spent the first half searching for his 2018 Cy Young form and found it only occasionally, recently emerging from a deep slump that included an appearance at Yankee Stadium on June 19 in which he allowed six runs in two-thirds of an inning. The 26-year-old was given eight days of rest surrounding the All-Star break and last faced New York at home on July 6, allowing one run in five innings without factoring in the decision. Snell is making his fifth start of the season against New York and went 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 17 total innings over the first four.
Paxton had his own struggles with consistency in the first half but was sharp at Tampa Bay on July 7, when he allowed two runs over six innings while striking out 11. The Canada native allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of his last six outings but was ripped for six runs in each of the other two turns. Paxton is better at home, where he owns a 3.26 ERA in eight starts while limiting opponents to a .217 batting average.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees RHPs Luis Severino (lat strain) and Dellin Betances (lat strain) were both cleared to begin throwing programs on Monday.
2. Tampa Bay 1B Nate Lowe is 8-for-17 with three homers, seven RBIs and six runs scored in his last four games.
3. Yankees DH Edwin Encarnacion (left arm) was held out of the lineup Sunday and is day-to-day.