Tampa Bay Rays news and notes

The dish

Rays at Yankees

When/where: 7:05 tonight, Yankee Stadium, New York

TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)

Probable pitchers:

Rays: RH James Shields (7-9, 4.87)

Yankees: LH CC Sabathia (12-3, 3.09)

Watch for …

Shields up: Shields has lost eight of his past nine starts. But the Rays insist he isn't pitching badly, and they still have confidence in him, thus keeping him at the front of the rotation. Of further concern, he is 2-7, 5.54 in 11 starts against the Yankees.

CC time: Sabathia is on a major roll, winning eight straight starts to match Rays lefty David Price with an AL-best 12 wins. Plus, he tends to pitch well against the Rays, posting an 8-3, 2.97 mark in 16 starts against them.

Key matchups

Yankees vs. Shields

Robinson Cano 13-for-29, 2 HR

Derek Jeter 13-for-37, HR

Alex Rodriguez 4-for-20, HR

Rays vs. Sabathia

Carl Crawford 10-for-40

Carlos Peña4-for-9, 2 HR

B.J. Upton 6-for-17, 2 HR

On deck

Saturday: at Yankees, 4:10, Ch. 13. Rays — Jeff Niemann (7-2, 2.77); Yankees — A.J. Burnett (7-7, 4.75)

Sunday: at Yankees, 1:05, Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (12-4, 2.42); Yankees — Andy Pettitte (11-2, 2.70)

Monday: at Orioles, 7:05, Sun Sports. Rays — Wade Davis (6-9, 4.69); Orioles — Chris Tillman, above (1-3, 5.64)

Tuesday: at Orioles, 7:05, Sun Sports. Rays — Matt Garza (10-5, 4.05); Orioles — Jake Arrieta (3-2, 4.38)

Wednesday: at Orioles, 12:35, Sun Sports. Rays — James Shields (7-9, 4.87); Orioles — Brad Bergesen (3-6, 6.40)

Steinbrenner memory of the day

Randy Choate figured that during his 3½ seasons with the Yankees he talked twice with George Steinbrenner — "Actually, he spoke to me twice, I should say." — but it was still memorable. After Choate and fellow reliever Brian Boehringer made the team in 2001, Steinbrenner walked up to congratulate both. "And then he squeezed my shoulder," Choate said, "and he said, 'even if you are a (Florida State) Seminole.' That's one thing that definitely stuck with me, his attention to detail."

Steinbrenner quote of the day

"I just can't imagine the emotion. The place is already very emotional, and then you throw all of this on top of that … I don't even know if I could put it into words."

Rays and former Yankees reliever Randy Choate, on the expected scene tonight with a tribute to George Steinbrenner, who died Tuesday