Tampa Bay @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 17, 2011 ) NY Yankees 6, Tampa Bay 2
THE STORY: The countdown to 3,000 takes center stage. A playoff-like atmosphere should engulf Yankee Stadium as captain Derek Jeter attempts to become the first Yankee to collect 3,000 hits when New York hosts the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night. Jeter needs three hits to become the 28th major leaguer to reach the milestone, and he has an appealing matchup to kick off the series with Jeff Niemann on the mound for the Rays. Jeter is 5-for-9 in his career against Niemann, who will be opposed by veteran righthander Bartolo Colon. Oh, and to add to the drama, Tampa Bay trails American League East-leading New York by four games.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SunSports (Tampa Bay), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Jeff Niemann (3-4, 5.05 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Bartolo Colon (6-3, 2.88).
Pitching for the first time in three weeks, Colon came off the disabled list and tossed six scoreless innings to win his fourth straight start. He has allowed three runs during the winning streak and continues to be among the league's biggest surprises after not pitching in 2010. He is 9-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 18 career starts against the Rays. He gets a break by missing Johnny Damon, who is batting .353 (18-for-51) with two homers against him. Niemann will be making his fourth start since missing 6 1/2 weeks with a strained lower back. He is 2-0 in his last three starts, but was knocked around for five runs and seven hits in three innings by Milwaukee on June 26. Niemann limited St. Louis to a run on nine hits in six innings Saturday. He has made four career starts against the Yankees, going 2-0 with a 3.74 ERA.
ABOUT THE YANKEES (51-34): New York played like it was looking ahead to returning to Yankee Stadium in Wednesday’s 5-3 loss at Cleveland. The Yankees were blanked on three hits through eight innings by Justin Masterson before pushing across three runs in the ninth. Nick Swisher had a run-scoring double to extend his RBI streak to five games. Alex Rodriguez had a pair of hits to give him 10 multi-hit games in his last 15. Closer Mariano Rivera was unavailable for a third straight game because of lingering tenderness in his right triceps. The 41-year-old Rivera estimated he was about “95 percent” on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE RAYS (48-39): The next 3 1/2 weeks could determine Tampa Bay's playoff hopes. After the All-Star break, the Rays host Boston for three games before the Yankees come to town for another four-game set. That precedes a 10-game West Coast road trip to close out July. Damon may be unavailable against the Yankees after getting hit in the hand by a pitch Wednesday. Slumping Evan Longoria has been bothered by a nerve issue in his foot, but he broke out of his funk with an RBI single and three-run homer Wednesday. Casey Kotchman, batting .343, is 9-for-20 during a five-game hitting streak.
FINAL PITCH: Yankees lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano was shut down for another week after he felt soreness while throwing Wednesday. Feliciano, signed to a two-year, $8 million contract in the off-season, has been out since spring training.