Rays vs. Yankees
When/where: 7:10 tonight; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
TV/radio: Sun Sports, Bay News 9 en Español; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Starting pitchers
Rays:
RH Jeremy Hellickson (8-7, 3.21)
Yankees:
RH Bartolo Colon (6-5, 3.47)
Tickets: $17-$275 at box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team store in Tampa.
Watch for …
Long time coming: Hellickson is coming off a career-long 15-day layoff between starts as the Rays try to manage his innings. He is 3-1 with a 1.82 ERA when starting on six-plus days rest. This will be his first career start against New York, having faced them twice in relief (1-0, 4.91 ERA).
Bounce back: Colon is coming off a rough outing in which he allowed eight runs (though just three earned) while getting two outs in Toronto. He is 9-3 with a 3.84 ERA in 19 career starts against Tampa Bay.
Key matchups
Rays vs. Colon
J. Damon 20-for-54, 2 HRs
Ben Zobrist 3-for-5, HR
B.J. Upton 4-for-14
Yankees vs. Hellickson
Robinson Cano 1-for-2
Mark Teixeira 1-for-2
Derek Jeter 1-for-2
On deck
Wednesday: vs. Yankees, 7:10, Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (9-7, 3.73); Yankees — Freddy Garcia (7-7, 3.43)
Speech of the day
In honor of ALS Awareness Day (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), Rays radio play-by-play man Andy Freed read Gehrig's legendary speech before Monday's game, including the line, "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
Comparison of the day
Manager Joe Maddon has often compared RHP Alex Cobb, left, to fellow Rays rookie RHP Jeremy Hellickson, talking about their demeanor, poise and pitching ability. Hellickson sees the similarities but points out one difference he likes: He's six months older. "I've pretty much been the youngest player on every level," he said, smiling. "So it's nice to have someone a little younger than me here."
Outage of the day
The game was delayed for 18 minutes in the top of the fifth when lightning struck a branch line to a substation of the Trop, causing a bank of lights to go dark. The scoreboard also flickered, and both teams went to their dugouts.
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