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First, the New York Yankees dethroned the team with the best record in baseball, the Detroit Tigers. Then they took two-of-three from the team with the new best record in baseball, the New York Mets. Now, it is the Tampa Bay Rays. Cupcakes, right? No Andrew Friedman. No Joe Maddon. No hitting. A lot of injuries.  So what have the Rays said so far? No problem.
Kevin Cash's Rays are tied for the majors' longest current winning streak at five games in a row. They are also tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East at 11-8. The Rays didn't just beat the Red Sox and the Blue Jays for their five-game winning streak, they more than doubled-up their AL East opponents, 30-12. As always with Tampa, it is the pitching. However, tonight's starter, righty Nathan Karns might be the guy Alex Rodriguez can hit No. 660 off of because he is prone to allow the long ball. He has already given up five home runs in 23 1/3 innings, including one to A-Rod. Karns enters with a 1-1 record and a 5.32 ERA. For the Yankees, Adam Warren will start. Warren (1-1, 5.40) fought back in his last start in Detroit following a horrendous first inning to pick up his first win in a 13-4 victory. The other two pitching matchups: Tuesday, Jake Odorizzi vs. Chase Whitley. Wednesday afternoon, Drew Smyly vs. Masahiro Tanaka. As Yankees manager Joe Girardi has long said, it is all about winning series. The more you win in the division against good teams, the better off you will be. The Yankees lost the first three series of the season, looking terrible in the process as they fell to 3-6. They went into Tampa and swept before beating up on the Tigers and the Mets. Now, they are feeling and looking much better. But the Rays, who were probably most picked to be the patsies of the weak AL East, are also feeling and looking better, which makes this a pretty intriguing series, even outside of No. 13.
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