Rays are not just another series for Yankees

CLEVELAND

The Yankees' approach, from the time Joe Girardi addressed the team at the start of spring training, has been to "just win series," a phrase repeated often by the manager and his players.

Therefore, the battle between the American League East's top two teams - which starts Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. - is no more important than the series that concluded last night in Cleveland.

Well, not exactly.

As George Orwell might have written - though far better - while all series are created equal, some are more equal than others.

"I don't think as players in here, I think it's just an unsaid thing, you know it's a big series," Nick Swisher said before last night's game. "There's no need to talk about it because you know what's at stake here."

Phil Hughes, who starts tonight, said: "Obviously, these games are important."

Still, while acknowledging that, Hughes correctly pointed out that the series isn't "make- or-break" for either team.

"There's no doubt they're important games, absolutely huge, but you don't want to put too much stress on a series like that," Swisher said. "I think the one thing we have to do is just continue doing what we're doing, and that's just going out and playing great ball every day."

And, of course, he said, "winning series."

The Yankees will begin the series with either a lead of one game or two in the division - depending on the outcome of last night's game in Cleveland - with the Red Sox still in shouting distance.

Yankees-Rays will never be Yankees-Red Sox, but the atmosphere, at least for this series, could be similar to what surrounds games involving the archrivals.

The three games are sold out - the first time, the Rays announced, the team has sold out three straight games. Yankees co-chairmen Hal and Hank Steinbrenner are expected to be in attendance tonight.

"I'm sure there's going to be quite a vibe,'' Rays manager Joe Maddon said after yesterday's victory, according to the Tampa Tribune. "I just think whenever we get our full house in here, our guys feel it, and it's kind of fun for everybody. We just played up there [dropping two of three at Yankee Stadium]; I thought it was an interesting series right after the All-Star break. They're still playing well, we're playing well; I think it will be interesting."

The teams have split the eight games they've played this season, with two series victories by the Yankees sandwiching a two-game Tampa Bay sweep at the Stadium in May. The Rays left that series with a five-game lead and increased the lead to six games on May - 32-12 to 26-18 - but they came back to earth a bit while the Yankees surged. The Rays have won eight of 10, including six straight; the Yankees were 8-4 since the All-Star break entering last night.

The Yankees haven't been able to put any real distance between themselves and the Rays, and Girardi expects that to continue - regardless of what happens this weekend.

"I don't expect that to really change," Girardi said. "I think we're going to have to play at an extremely high level. It's going to take a lot of games to win this division."

Girardi also isn't ready to discount the Red Sox, who have won five of seven and are coming off a three-game sweep of the Angels in Anaheim.

"They've done a great job to this point [handling] the injuries that they sustained," Girardi said. "They're going to get people back and be right in the mix of this."

The Red Sox start a four-game series at the Stadium next Friday, but there will be plenty of time to hype that series. This weekend is all about the Rays.

"It's going to be a great battle. It's going to be a lot of fun," Swisher said. "You're taking two great teams, you're going up against each other. That's the kind of series you want to be in."