Rays vs. Yankees
When/where: 7:10 tonight; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Starting pitchers:
RAYS:
RH Jeremy Hellickson (13-10, 2.90)
YANKEES:
RH Bartolo Colon (8-10, 4.02)
Tickets: $17-$275 at box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team store in Tampa; $3 surcharge within five hours of game.
Watch for …
Jeremy the kid: Hellickson, an AL rookie of the year candidate, has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his past seven starts, including two runs and two hits in a no-decision against the Yankees last week. He is 2-1 with a 4.09 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against New York.
Stepping up: Colon has not won since July 30 and allowed seven runs over three innings in a loss to Tampa Bay last week. He is 0-3 with a 6.60 ERA in three starts against the Rays this season.
Key matchups
Rays vs. Colon
Johnny Damon 19-for-55, 2 HRs
Ben Zobrist 5-for-9, 2 HRs
B.J. Upton 6-for-18, HR
Yankees vs. Hellickson
R. Cano 5-for-9, 2 HRs
Derek Jeter 2-for-9
Mark Teixeira 3-for-10
On deck
Wednesday: vs. Yankees, 7:10, Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (12-13, 3.35); Yankees — TBA
End regular season
Milestone watch
DH Johnny Damon has passed his share of Hall of Famers, including Ted Williams, on the career hits list this season. Monday, Damon's go-ahead RBI single in the third tied him with Yankees legend Lou Gehrig for 57th all time (2,721). "Lou Gehrig very well could be in that category as the best hitter of all time, best player of all time, a champion," Damon said. "His numbers are just absolutely ridiculous."
Quote of the day
"We have nothing to prove. If we win, everyone says 'Wow.' If we lose, they say, 'Wow, they came that close.' If Boston doesn't make it, they say, 'Man, I can't believe they didn't make it.' The pressure is on them."
INF Sean Rodriguez, on the Rays chasing the Red Sox for the wild-card spot, having trailed by nine games earlier this month
Number of the day
29 Times a Rays starter has gone eight innings or longer and allowed two runs or fewer; the last AL team to have that many was the 1998 Yankees (33).
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