Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays 4/22

I don’t think I’ve ever found myself saying this but boy am I glad to see the Oakland Athletics leave the Bronx. What a tough, and at times agonizing, series that was but this is Major League Baseball and every day is a new game and in this case a new series as the New York Yankees welcome their division rivals the Tampa Bay Rays to the Bronx. New York will look to snap this series losing streak they have going while they pull out a couple, or three, wins this weekend inside Yankee Stadium. The way you do that is you take one game at a time and that first game comes tonight with CC Sabathia on the mound for the Yankees and Matt Moore on the mound for the Rays.

Sabathia has given the Yankees some innings in each of his first two starts but not much else in the way of effectiveness unfortunately. Sabathia always seems to pitch well in the first three or four innings of a contest before seemingly falling off around the fifth inning every single time leaving many to wonder if he wouldn’t be better suited as a long man in the bullpen. Sabathia looks like a new pitcher, reinvented, at the beginning of games only to fall back into old patterns late. Sabathia needs to turn this around today and needs to show some improvement because even Yankees GM Brian Cashman has said his starting job is not guaranteed all season long.

Moore struggled towards the end of last season after coming back from Tommy John surgery but it seems like the lefty is getting better and better with every start he makes. Moore’s biggest issues was his control and he has seemingly gotten that under control and will look to harness that control inside of Yankee Stadium tonight where he owns a career 3-1 record and 4.66 ERA.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. It’s Friday and the only way you can ruin a Friday night is if you have to work on Saturday morning or if the Yankees lose. I don’t have to work tomorrow so don’t let me down boys. Let’s pull out this victory and another and another. Go Yankees!!