Facing a three-game sweep at the hands of the last place Tampa Bay Rays (41-61), the New York Yankees (52-51) sent RHP Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians for four prospects, two of which are on MLB.com’s Top 100 list. The Yanks get top prospects OF Clint Frazier and LHP Justus Sheffield as well as RHPs Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen in exchange for one of the best late-inning arms in baseball.
Just a few hours later, they’ll send this lineup out to face the Rays hoping to avoid the sweep:
LF Gardner
CF Ellsbury
DH Beltran
2B Castro
C McCann
SS Gregorius
3B Headley
1B Refsnyder
RF Hicks
RHP Pineda
The Rays, hoping for the sweep and a four-game winning streak would send this starting nine out to face New York, sans Steve Pearce who’s been in the thick of trade rumors this week:
DH Forsythe
SS Miller
3B Longoria
LF Dickerson
RF Souza Jr
CF Kiermaier
2B Beckham
1B Franklin
C Maile
LHP Snell
PRE GAME NOTES:
- Rays Blake Snell has pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts after only doing that once in his first five. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in all three of those starts.
- Yankees Michael Pineda is coming off back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Opponents are hitting just .198 off him in his last nine starts going back to June 7.
- Rays OF Steven Souza Jr is 6-for-14 off Pineda with three home runs.
- Rays Jake Odorizzi is the first pitcher in team history to pitch back-to-back scoreless outings without allowing a walk in either game. He’s also only Rays pitcher this year with back-to-back scoreless starts.
Follow Ryan on Twitter
