Tagged: Tampa Bay Rays

The Pulse of New York

Every Wednesday, YES Blog takes the “Pulse of New York” on some of the week’s biggest sports stories. Have your voice heard by voting in the below polls:

What is your opinion on all the home runs at Yankee Stadium?(online surveys)

If you ran the Mets, what would you have done with Dwight Gooden’s signature?(online surveys)

Former Mets pitcher Heath Bell is currently projected to finish the 2009 season with 76 saves. How many do you think he will have?(answers)

The Tampa Bay Rays are currently in last place. Where will they finish?(answers)

At 11-3, the Florida Marlins are currently leading the NL East. Who do you think will win the division?(online surveys)

Chien-Ming Wang will…(online surveys)

Yankees vs. Rays: 4/13/09 Starting Lineups

yankees.jpgBy Jon Lane
YANKEES (3-3)
Derek Jeter SS
Johnny Damon LF
Nick Swisher 1B
Jorge Posada C
Xavier Nady RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Hideki Matsui DH
Cody Ransom 3B
Melky Cabrera RF

Chien-Ming Wang.P

rays.jpgRAYS (3-3)
B.J. Upton CF
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
Pat Burrell DH
Dioner Navarro C
Gabe Gross RF
Akinori Iwamura 2B
Jason Bartlett SS

Scott Kazmir P

Notes and storylines
Mark Teixeira (sore left wrist) remains sidelined and day-to-day, but apparently it’s nothing to be concerned about. Nick Swisher starts again at first base and the way he’s swinging the bat, that’s a good thing. Swisher is 8-for-16 in five starts and batting .471.

Chien-Ming Wang is eager to rebound from a brutal performance last Wednesday in Baltimore, when he was tagged for seven runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings. With Wang it’s simple: If his sinker is moving, he’ll be on his ‘A’ Game. If not, well ….

Alex Rodriguez (remember him?) worked out today in Tampa, Fla., and is now dedicated to baseball, reports Peter Abraham

B.J. Upton returns to the Rays after rehabbing a shoulder injury, just in time for the defending AL Champions’ home opener.

kalas_150_041309.jpgIt’s a very sad day in baseball. Legendary and beloved Philadelphia Phillies announcer Harry Kalas died this afternoon after collapsing in the broadcast booth while preparing for the Phillies-Nationals game in Washington D.C. I met Kalas at Shea Stadium years ago while working with the Phillies production crew and remember him as a kind, down-to-earth and amazing person with a passion for the game and love for his job. At least he got to see (and call) the Phillies winning one more World Series before leaving us.

David Wells – the David Wells – has joined TBS as a color analyst.

Season premiere of Yankees on YES

hughes_320_022609.jpgBy Jon Lane
The YES Network presents its first Yankees telecast this afternoon at 1:15 when the Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

New York is off a 6-1 win over Toronto in Dunedin, Fla., where Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run home run in his first game since his admission of using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-03. Brett Gardner also homered to lead off the game. Brett Tomko started and pitched two scoreless innings.

Today’s starter
Phil Hughes is anxious to rebound from an 0-4 2008 which included a broken rib that ruined his first full season. The right-hander pitched well in the Arizona Fall League, striking out 38 in 30 innings. Right now, Hughes is destined to begin the regular season in Triple-A, but would likely be the first one up in the event of an injury to one of the established starters.

To learn more about Hughes, check out one of YESNetwork.com’s exclusive Quick Cuts.

Today’s lineup
Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Xavier Nady RF
Jorge Posada DH
Jose Molina C
Melky Cabrera CF

The rotation
Hughes, Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Jonathan Albaladejo, Mark Melancon.

About the Rays
Joe Maddon’s 9=8 motivational slogan, his belief that nine players playing hard for nine innings leads to being one of the eight playoff teams, helped lead the Rays to a surprising AL pennant. His new slogan this year is ’09 > ’08, meaning 2009 is greater than, or better, than 2008. That would mean one thing: a World Series win. It’s going to be hard enough for the Rays to ward off the Yankees and Red Sox, but after what they did last season never put anything past Maddon’s crew.