Rays at Yankees
The Tampa Bay Rays haven't had much success against the New York Yankees with just five wins in 14 meetings this season, but Travis d'Arnaud enjoyed a career night to set the tone in the series opener Monday. The Rays aim to ride the momentum of his three-homer performance on Tuesday in the second contest of the four-game set in the Bronx.
After leading off Tuesday's game with a homer, d'Arnaud belted a solo shot in the third inning before his three-run blast with two outs in the ninth gave Tampa Bay a 5-4 victory on Monday. The former Mets catcher burned the cross-town rival with the fifth three-homer performance in franchise history for Tampa Bay, which has won three in a row to move within five games of the American League East-leading Yankees. New York has lost three straight to the Rays and four of six overall on the heels of winning 16 of its previous 18. Edwin Encarnacion recorded his fourth multi-homer performance of the season with a pair of blasts in the series opener after entering the game with just four homers and 10 RBIs in 18 contests since being acquired from Seattle.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Ryne Stanek (0-2, 3.14 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (5-4, 4.03)
Stanek will serve as the opener after recording two strikeouts while retiring all six batters he faced at Baltimore on Sunday. The 27-year-old has faced the Yankees on seven occasions this season (three starts), surrendering 10 runs on eight hits - including three homers - while posting an 0-1 mark with a 9.35 ERA. Brett Gardner (4-for-9) and Aaron Judge (3-for-6) have gone deep in their career against Stanek, who has flustered Gary Sanchez (0-for-7).
Sabathia will receive his fifth start against Tampa Bay this season on Tuesday and second in a row after yielding three runs on six hits over seven innings of a no-decision on July 6. The 38-year-old sports a 1-0 mark with a 2.63 ERA in his four starts versus the Rays in 2019, with two of those encounters coming at Yankee Stadium. Kevin Kiermaier (6-for-19, two homers) and Tommy Pham (4-for-13) have fared well against Sabathia, who owns an 18-16 record with a 3.59 ERA in 52 career starts versus Tampa Bay.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York INF DJ LeMahieu has 16 hits against Tampa Bay this season.
2. Rays 1B Nate Lowe, who earned AL Player of the Week honors on Monday, is 8-for-17 with three homers, seven RBIs and six runs scored in his last four games.
3. Judge is 2-for-16 against Tampa Bay this season.