New York @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 18, 2011 ) NY Yankees 0, Tampa Bay 0

THE STORY: After laboring through a 16-inning loss Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays got out of the chute in a hurry against the New York Yankees. The Rays scored three times in the first inning Monday and added another in the second to get the early jump on Joe Girardi's club. Then they seemed to run out of gas as the Yankees rallied for a 5-4 decision in the opener of the four-game series. Bartolo Colon will take the hill Tuesday for the Yankees, who have won five of their last seven. Rookie Jeremy Hellickson will provide the opposition for the Rays, who have dropped seven of their last 10.

TV: 7:10 p.m., YES, SUN

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Bartolo Colon (6-5, 3.47 ERA) vs. Rays RH Jeremy Hellickson (8-7, 3.21 ERA).

If you blinked, you missed him last time - and that's saying something with the portly Colon. The hurler lasted just two-thirds of an inning in his last start, yielding eight runs on six hits in a 16-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Colon has won nine of his 12 career decisions against Tampa Bay, although he permitted all five runs in a 5-1 loss to the Rays on July 7. Hellickson has been idle since snapping a four-game skid with a quality start against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 3. The Rays are trying to limit the rookie's innings to approximately 170-180 - he's at 103 2/3 innings. The 23-year-old Iowa native excelled in a relief role to win his lone decision against the Yankees.

ABOUT THE RAYS (50-44): Tampa Bay fell to a season-high eight games back in the American League East following Monday's loss. Evan Longoria had a two-run double in the first inning, but is batting just .180 in July. Longoria is 2-for-6 in his career against Colon. Making his major-league debut Monday, Alex Torres (0-1) issued an intentional walk to Nick Swisher followed by conventional ones to Andruw Jones and Russell Martin, the last one providing the go-ahead run with the bases loaded in the ninth. The 23-year-old Torres was recalled after Tampa Bay used nine pitchers in its 16-inning loss to the Red Sox on Sunday. He was immediately optioned to Triple-A Durham after Monday's game.

ABOUT THE YANKEES (56-37): Curtis Granderson collected a pair of hits, reached base four times and stole two bases Monday. He also scored twice to increase his league-leading total to 84 - 10 better than second-place Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays. Derek Jeter singled in the seventh inning to move ahead of Hall of Famer Al Kaline into 26th place with his 3,008th hit. The captain has recorded at least one hit in five of six games versus the Rays this season - including a 5-for-5 effort on his memorable milestone day at Yankee Stadium on July 9. He is just 1-for-2 versus Hellickson. Brett Gardner stole his 13th consecutive successful base Monday. Righthander Rafael Soriano, who is dealing with right elbow inflammation, is scheduled to start a minor league rehabilitation assignment Tuesday with Class-A Tampa.

FINAL PITCH: Talk about your horrible birthday gifts. Yankees utility infielder Ramiro Pena underwent an emergency appendectomy Monday - his 26th birthday, no less. He is expected to be sidelined four-to-six weeks. With Alex Rodriguez on the disabled list, the Yankees recalled Brandon Laird from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to platoon with Eduardo Nunez.