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Rays-Yankees Preview

May 20, 2010 - 4:54 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Tampa Bay (28-11) at New York (25-14), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The major league-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat a New York Yankees starter who has given them problems in the past in the opener of this two-game series.

They'll face another such pitcher in Andy Pettitte when they go for their sixth straight victory Thursday night.

Tampa Bay (29-11) won 10-6 on Wednesday to push its AL East lead over second-place New York (25-15) to four games. The Rays ended a six-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium by scoring six runs against A.J. Burnett, who entered the contest with a 12-4 career mark against them.

"This is usually a hard place to play," left fielder Carl Crawford said. "It gives us a little confidence going into tomorrow."

Pettitte (5-0, 1.79 ERA) has enjoyed similar success against Tampa Bay, going 16-5 with a 3.88 ERA in 28 starts. Since the Rays posted their first winning season and went to the World Series in 2008, though, Pettitte is 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA against them in eight outings.

The veteran left-hander returned to the rotation Saturday after being out since May 5 with inflammation around his pitching elbow. Pettitte yielded two hits over 6 1-3 scoreless innings in a 7-1 win over Minnesota.

"He had his curveball and his cutter from the beginning, which made me feel really good about how he felt," manager Joe Girardi told the Yankees' official website.

Pettitte, who has matched his 5-0 start from 1997, has never won his first six decisions.

Rays slugger Evan Longoria is 2 for 16 with a homer and nine strikeouts against Pettitte.

Longoria has six RBIs in his last three games after going 3 for 4, driving in two runs and stealing two bases Wednesday.

The Rays stole six bases to tie Chicago for the AL lead with 45. They have stolen 13 bases without getting caught in splitting four games against the Yankees this season.

The banged-up Yankees suffered another injury when Marcus Thames stepped on his own rolling bat and sprained his left ankle Wednesday. Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada are among four regulars who are out, with Posada set to miss three to four weeks with a broken bone in his right foot.

New York scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday, but the rally fell short as it lost consecutive home games for the first time. The Yankees' bullpen has posted an 11.68 ERA over the last four games.

"I know that they're banged up a little bit right now and I understand that, but you nevertheless saw the kind of pressure they can put at you at the end of a game," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "Regardless of who's in the lineup, they have a lot of good players."

The Yankees hope they can continue their success against James Shields (4-1, 3.00), who starts Thursday for the Rays. Shields is 1-7 with a 5.76 ERA in 10 career outings against New York.

While the right-hander has done well against power hitters Mark Teixeira (3 for 19 with 10 strikeouts) and Alex Rodriguez (.235), he's had difficulty facing Robinson Cano (.462) and Derek Jeter (.364).

Shields gave up two runs in a season-low 5 1-3 innings against New York on April 11 and did not get a decision in a 7-3 loss.

Cano had four hits Wednesday and is 8 for 18 against Tampa Bay this season.