New York @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 7, 2012 ) Tampa Bay 7, NY Yankees 3

The Yankees were baseball’s best team in June, going 20-7 to seize control of a tight American League East race, and they carried that momentum in July with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. The Rays, meanwhile, led the division a month ago but now sit in fourth after losing six of their last seven games. Tampa Bay leads the season series with New York, 5-4, including a three-game sweep at home to open the season.

Pacing the AL East by six games, New York has been its usual hard-hitting self offensively, leading the major leagues with 124 home runs in 78 games. CF Curtis Granderson and 2B Robinson Cano have hit 23 and 20 homers, respectively, leading six Yankees in double figures. The Rays, meanwhile, have leaned heavily this season on a pitching staff that ranks fourth in the league in ERA (3.67) and a bullpen that has converted 24 of 28 save chances, the AL’s second-best success rate.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN (national), ESPN3.com (web), Sun Sports (Tampa)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Freddy Garcia (2-2, 6.39 ERA) vs. Rays LH Matt Moore (4-5, 4.19 ERA)

Garcia, who has been effective in middle relief this season after a rough April in the rotation, will be making a handful of spot starts with CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte injured. He has given up just four runs (three earned) over 17 1/3 innings in 10 appearances over the last two months, compared with the 20 runs he allowed in just 13 2/3 frames during his four April starts.

Moore has shown flashes of brilliance in recent weeks, capping a three-start win streak with seven shutout innings against Miami on June 15. He is 3-3 with a 3.78 ERA in nine outings at home, allowing a total of two earned runs in the three victories. Moore has faced the Yankees just once, dominating en route to his first big-league win last September (5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, BB, 11 K).

WALK-OFFS:

1. Garcia is 9-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 17 career games (16 starts) against the Rays. He pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief against Tampa on June 5 during a 7-0 Yankees victory.

2. Tampa Bay 1B Carlos Peña has struggled against Garcia, going 4-for-39 (.103) with 11 strikeouts. Rays C Jose Molina has had more success, going 10-for-26 with a pair of runs batted in.

3. New York has won nine of its last 10 road games overall, but it has dropped its last seven games at Tropicana Field dating back to last July.