By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Monday, May 16, 2011
Rays vs. Yankees
When/where: 6:40 tonight; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
TV/radio: Sun Sports, Bay News 9 Español; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Starting pitchers
RAYS: RH James Shields (4-1, 2.08)
YANKS: RH Ivan Nova (3-3, 4.70)
Tickets: $17-$275 at Tropicana Field box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team store in Tampa, $3 surcharge within five hours of game.
Promotion: Rays/Navy Seals T-shirt to first 10,000 fans in Rays gear, or with military ID; gates open at 4:40.
Watch for …
Big Game James: Shields has been on a sizzling roll, going 3-0, 1.12 over his past five starts. He is 3-8, 4.91 overall against the Yankees but has improved with age, going 1-0, 1.42 in his past three home starts vs. them.
Super Nova: Nova, 24, is coming off a rough start vs. the Royals, allowing 8 runs (four earned) on 10 hits over three innings. He faced the Rays twice last season, with two no-decisions and a 6.97 ERA to show for it.
Key matchups
Rays vs. Nova
John Jaso 1-for-5
Matt Joyce 1-for-5
Ben Zobrist 1-for-6
Yankees vs. Shields
Robinson Cano 16-for-41, 3 HRs
Derek Jeter 17-for-50, HR
Alex Rodriguez 7-for-29, HR
On deck
Wednesday: at Blue Jays, 7:07, Sun Sports. Rays — Jeremy Hellickson (4-2, 2.98); Jays — Ricky Romero (3-4, 3.35)
Thursday: at Blue Jays, 7:07, Sun Sports. Rays — Wade Davis (4-3, 3.47); Jays — Jo-Jo Reyes (0-3, 4.75)
Legend of Sam Fuld note of the day
You know those two stitches Sam Fuld had to get in his bottom lip after the hard slide into second Sunday? No problem, he said, tongue in cheek. "I did it myself."
Comparison of the day
Asked by New York media to describe Sam Fuld's play, Rays manager Joe Maddon went back to the spark plug of the 2002 Angels championship team for an answer: "He's David Eckstein in leftfield."
Eckstein: 5-6 170 lbs Scrappy INF
Fuld: 5-10 180 lbs Scrappy OF