Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays 4/28

For the second time this week the New York Yankees will play host to the Tampa Bay Rays at home in the Bronx and inside Yankee Stadium. This is the second time that these two teams have faced off and thankfully this is the second time this season that New York has missed having to face Chris Archer who has not allowed a run in his last four starts. On the mound tonight New York faces off against Jake Odorizzi so you have to think Brian McCann will be in the Yankees lineup while catching Chase Whitley. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Whitley will be making his first start of the season after the Yankees called him up from Triple-A after losing out on the 5^th starter job in Spring Training. Whitley may have pitched better than any of the candidates for the job but the fact that he had minor league options and the others didn’t was truly the decision maker. In three starts in Scranton Whitley has gone 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA after going 4-3 with a 5.23 ERA in 12 starts and 24 games in 2014 with New York.

• Odorizzi is fresh off a quality start his last time out which was his fourth in a row including the last time the Yankees and the Rays met. His previous start was made against the Boston Red Sox where he allowed just one run in 6.2 innings in a victory. Odorizzi is not 2-2 in his career against the Yankees including a 5.82 ERA and 1-1 record inside Yankee Stadium.

Tanaka has looked much better in his last two starts and the Yankees bombed Odirizzi when they faced him a couple weeks back so New York has to be confident coming into this game. I know I’m confident and that’s quite a drastic change from the last four or five years when the Rays were always a thorn in the side of the Yankees. Tampa has a ton of pitching on the way back so the Yankees have to get their wins in now while they can and hopefully they get another one tonight over the Rays. Go Yankees!