The Tampa Bay Rays (30-11, 25-16 RL, 22-16-3 O/U) meet with the New York Yankees (23-18, 20-21 RL, 17-22-1 O/U) as the AL East rivals conclude a four-game series on Sunday afternoon. The Rays send Zach Eflin to the hill. The Yankees will counter with Clarke Schmidt. The season series is 3-3 after a 9-8 Yankees win on Saturday.
Zach Eflin will get the nod to conclude the series. Eflin wasn't at his best last time out, conceding four runs in seven innings against the Pirates, and was hit with his first loss. The right-hander has been the Rays' second-best starter behind McClanahan, sporting a 2.91 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP accompanied by a 4-1 record in 34 innings. Eflin hasn’t seen a lot of the Yankees but has shut them down in his limited action, holding them to only two runs with a 1-0 record in 11 career innings.
Tampa Bay is in the middle of a ten-game road trek. They dropped two of three bouts with the Orioles this week due to a decrease in offense, scoring only six runs in the series. It marked just their second road series loss of the season. The Rays are 5-5 in their last ten games including two wins in three meetings with the Yankees last weekend.
Randy's a crowd favorite wherever we go. pic.twitter.com/5Xm0BLNkES
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 12, 2023
Yandy Diaz continues to dazzle at the plate. The veteran first baseman is sporting a .310 average and a dominant 1.09 OPS this month and is one of the more patient hitters in the game. Diaz went 3 for 10 with two RBIs against the Yankees last week and hit a grand slam on Saturday. He is 2 for 5 in his career against Clarke Schmidt.
Tampa Bay is scoring an average of 6.08 runs, good for second. The pitching staff has recorded a 3.00 ERA which leads the big leagues.