By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Rays vs. Yankees
When/where: 6:40 tonight; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Probable starters:
RAYS: LH David Price (5-3, 3.12)
YANKEES: RH A.J. Burnett (4-2, 3.38)
Tickets: $17-$275 at Tropicana Field box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team store in Tampa, $3 surcharge within five hours of game.
Watch for …
AL East king: Price has a lifetime 19-4 record against AL East opponents, best by an active pitcher against any division with a minimum of 20 decisions. Price has not allowed a walk in his past two starts. He is 3-1 against the Yankees with a 3.38 ERA.
Bounceback for Burnett: Burnett has had some success against Tampa Bay in his career, going 12-7, 3.15. He has pitched six innings in all but two of his eight starts this year.
Key matchups
Yankees vs. Price
Alex Rodriguez 5-for-20, HR
Curtis Granderson 2-for-16
Nick Swisher 5-for-14, HR
Rays vs. Burnett
Evan Longoria 12-for-32, HR
B.J. Upton 7-for-36
Johnny Damon 4-for-22
On deck
Tuesday: vs. Yankees, 6:40, Sun Sports. Rays — James Shields (4-1, 2.08); Yankees — Ivan Nova (3-3, 4.70)
First MLB HR of the day
Rays SS Elliot Johnson, starting for struggling Reid Brignac, hit a 2-and-0 offering from Orioles RHP Jake Arrieta over the rightfield wall leading off the third for his first major-league home run. Johnson hit 75 homers in 876 minor-league games. "It's been a long time coming, and I've been looking for it and working for it for a long time, so I'm glad it could come," said Johnson, who got the silent treatment from some Rays upon reaching the dugout before being congratulated.
Bad pitching line of the day
Rays reliever Rob Delaney (13.50 ERA) faced three batters in the sixth inning, walking all three, including one intentionally, before being lifted for Cesar Ramos, who fell behind 2-and-0 then yielded a grand slam to Orioles SS J.J. Hardy. Delaney's line: O IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 ERs, 3 BBs, 0 SOs.