Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays 7/4

Independence Day baseball in the Bronx, New York and inside Yankee Stadium, no better way to bring in the independence of the greatest country on the planet. This afternoon the New York Yankees will play host to the Tampa Bay Rays for the second time in this weekend's three game series in the Bronx. Last night we all watched as Masahiro Tanaka and Chris Archer faced off head-to-head and this afternoon we watch Nathan Karns take the mound for the Rays and Michael Pineda take the mound for the Yankees. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on Fox Sports One and MLB TV (I believe unless it gets blacked out).

• Pineda has looked more like a struggling middle of the rotation pitcher and less like "Big Mike" lately forcing many Yankees fans to worry about the future of his season and the future of the Yankees playoff run this season. Pineda will have to bring his big game this afternoon in the Bronx against a tough Tampa team.

• Karns has been the tough luck loser in his last two starts thanks to his offense forgetting their bats in the locker rooms. In Karns last two starts he faced pitchers with perfect-game bids which resulted in a loss and a no-decision for Karns despite giving up just two runs in 12 innings. Karns has faced the Yankees three times in his career and twice this season posting a 1-0 record with a 3.07 ERA. 

The Yankees and Rays have one more game tomorrow afternoon in the Bronx to complete the biggest three game series New York may play this month. The American League East Division is a four team race right now and the Boston Red Sox are quietly playing much better of late and are slowly chipping away at the deficit they face from the cellar of the division making this series all that more important. The Yankees know this, let's just hope they play like it. Go Yankees!