Previewing the opponent: Tampa Bay Rays

Eric just posted tonight's lineup for the Yankees, so let's take a look at who will be on the other bench:

Tampa Bay Rays

Record: 2-1

Probable pitching matchups: Javier Vasquez v. David Price tonight, CC Sabathia v. Wade Davis tomorrow and A.J. Burnett v. James Shields on Sunday.

The offense: Jason Bartlett is 5-for-13, Ben Zobrist is 4-for-13, Evan Longoria is 5-for-12 with two home runs and Reid Brignac is 3-for-4. That’s the positives. Pat Burrell is (surprise) 1-for-9, and B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford are 2-for-10. The team is 29-for-98 (.295), but the team has only nine extra-base hits and those two Longoria homers are the only long balls the team has hit.

The pitching: Matt Garza gave up two runs (one earned) in eight innings and James Shields had a quality start on the starters’ side. Jeff Niemann got knocked out early on Thursday with an injury after a perfect 1 1/3 innings. In relief, Andy Sonnanstine gave up just a run in 3 1/3 innings, saving some of the bullpen for this weekend’s series. The bullpen has been okay, but Rafael Soriano hasn’t necessarily inspired a lot of confidence. In two innings he’s allowed only one run, but given up four hits and a walk. Randy Choate, Dan Wheeler and lance Cormier have pitched well.