Coming off a solid five-inning outing against the Red Sox, Blake Snell is set to take on the Yankees tonight in New York, first pitch at 7:05.
Snell had his best outing of the season Wednesday in Boston and is aiming to extend his workload to six innings and/or 85 pitches (whichever comes first) in the opener of a three-game series between the top two teams in the AL East.
And two teams that, based on past actions, don’t particularly like each other.
The Rays took three of four from the Yankees in an Aug. 7-9 series at Tropicana Field and go into play tonight 14-9 and 2-1/2 games behind the 16-6 Yankees.
The Yankees are missing three of their top offensive players, with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu all on the injured list. They do have closer Aroldis Chapman in their bullpen, as he was activated Monday after being sidelined previously after a case of COVID-19.
Also of note, Rays lefty Brendan McKay is set to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery on Wednesday, and infielder Daniel Robertson was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for pitcher Edgar Garcia, who was acquired in a trade with the Phillies.
Also, lefty reliever Jose Alvarado, on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, will be shut down for 10-14 days due to what looks like a lat strain, manager Kevin Cash said. Starter Charlie Morton (shoulder) felt good after throwing a bullpen session in Port Charlotte and looks to be on track for a return this weekend.
Here is the Rays’ lineup vs. Masahiro Tanaka, who tends to give them trouble:
Meadows lf
Lowe rf
Diaz dh
Choi 1b
Wendle 2b
Adames ss
Tsutsugo 3b
Kiermaier cf
Perez c
Snell p
And here is the Yankees lineup:
Voit 1b
Urshela 3b
Hicks cf
Torres ss
Sanchez c
Tauchman lf
Frazier rf
Andujar dh
Estrada 2b
Tanaka p