AL East rivals will begin a big three-game series on Monday night in the Bronx with the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the New York Yankees. Tampa Bay earned a series win over the Baltimore Orioles with a 4-1 triumph in Sunday's rubber game as a -175 favorite, and owns an AL Wild Card spot at 60-53. New York is comfortably atop the division at 72-43, but has been skidding lately and dropped two of three to the Boston Red Sox with a 3-0 loss on Sunday as a
The Yankees own a comfortable advantage in the season series thus far, having won seven of the 10 meetings.
Drew Rasmussen nearly made history on Sunday as he carried a perfect game into the ninth inning against the Orioles, but the Rays will be happy to settle for a huge series win as they moved back into Wild Card position after briefly dropping out. Tampa Bay's scoring all came during the third, with Randy Aroenzera launching a three-run homer and new trade acquisition David Peralta added an RBI single later in the inning.
Rasmussen finished with 8.1 innings of one-run ball, allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out seven. Jason Adam struck out the final two batters for his sixth save. Taylor Walls had a multi-hit game including a double with two runs scored.
“I mean, I'll take it,” Rasmussen said to MLB.com. “I wouldn't say it was disappointing, man. I came that close, and very few can say they've done that, too.”
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The Rays remain down a fair amount on the money line for the season while going 53-60 on the run line. Overs are an even 52-52-9 for the Rays after Sunday's series finale went well under the betting total.
An injury-riddled offense has scuffled on the season, posting just 4.11 runs per game on a .684 OPS. Pitching has kept Tampa Bay afloat with the staff posting a 3.47 ERA to rank fourth-best in the Majors, including a mark of 3.42 from a stellar bullpen.
Yandy Diaz is enjoying a career year at the plate, posting a .771 OPS with 36 RBI and 50 runs scored. Arozarena has also offered plenty of production with a .753 OPS, 15 homers, 21 stolen bases and 55 driven in.
Ryan Yarbrough is set to make his 14th appearance and ninth start of the season, hoping to get a rough campaign turned around as he's 0-7 with a 5.08 ERA over 56.2 total innings. The 30-year-old took another loss against the Milwaukee Brewers last Tuesday, allowing three runs on four hits and one walk in 3.1 innings, striking out five.
While slowly getting healthier, the Rays are still down some crucial bats with shortstop Wander Franco (hamate surgery), outfielder Harold Ramirez (fractured thumb), catcher Mike Zunino (thoracic outlet syndrome), outfielder Manuel Margot (sprained knee) and outfielder Kevin Kiermaier (hip surgery) all out. The rotation is down Shane Baz (sprained elbow), Yonny Chirinos (fractured elbow), Josh Fleming (strained oblique), Tyler Glasnow (Tommy John surgery) and Brendan McKay (thoracic outlet syndrome). Relievers Nick Anderson (UCL surgery), JT Chargois (strained oblique), J.P Feyereisen (shoulder impingement), Andrew Kitteridge (Tommy John surgery) and Matt Wisler (strained neck).