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Yankees-Rays Preview

Jul 31, 2010 - 4:09 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

New York (65-37) at Tampa Bay (64-38), 7:10 p.m. EDT

After pitching the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history in his last start, Matt Garza would settle for pushing his team into first place Saturday night.

The red-hot Rays can pull even with the major league-best New York Yankees on Saturday night with a season-high eighth consecutive victory, but the Yankees have begun loading up on reinforcements as they push for another AL East crown.

The trade deadline will pass hours before this matchup at Tropicana Field, but the Yankees didn't wait until the last minute to add a pair of bats to their lineup.

New York (65-37) acquired first baseman Lance Berkman from Houston and outfielder Austin Kearns from Cleveland on Friday night, although its unclear if either will be available Saturday.

"That's great," first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "Two quality guys. I know both of them real well. They're both great guys. It's going to be good for the clubhouse."

The Yankees may be feeling the pressure from the Rays (64-38), who have the second-best record in the majors and are within a game of New York thanks to seven straight wins. Tampa Bay hasn't won eight in a row since a 12-game winning streak in 2004, mostly in interleague play.

The highlight of the club's current run was Garza's no-hitter against Detroit in a 5-0 win Monday.

Garza (11-5, 4.06 ERA) had allowed seven runs at Baltimore in his previous start, raising his ERA to 6.71 over a stretch of 12 outings. He faced the minimum 27 batters against the Tigers, with the only batter he walked erased on a double play.

It was the fifth no-hitter in the majors this season but first ever for Tampa Bay, which had been on the losing end of three no-hitters since last July.

"We needed one. I don't care who it came from. We just needed one for our own confidence," Garza said. "The guys are just as excited as I am. It's fun."

Garza will be facing the Yankees for the first time since Sept. 7, when he allowed one unearned run in seven innings of Tampa Bay's 4-1 loss at Yankee Stadium. The Rays dropped all four of Garza's starts against New York last year even though he posted a 2.08 ERA in those outings.

The right-hander has special incentive to shut down Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who has gone 7 for 15 with a home run in their previous matchups.

Rodriguez is still looking to become the seventh player with 600 career home runs, having gone homerless in eight games since hitting No. 599 on July 22 against Kansas City.

He went 0 for 4 in the Yankees' 3-2 loss Friday. New York led 2-0 before Matt Joyce's three-run homer in the sixth gave the Rays the edge. Joyce, who has 12 RBIs in 13 games since the All-Star break, broke a scoreless tie during Garza's no-hitter with a grand slam.

The Rays will take their swings against Javier Vazquez (9-7, 4.54), who gave up eight runs in St. Petersburg in his 2010 debut April 9 but is 3-0 with a 2.77 ERA in four July starts. The right-hander beat Cleveland with seven strong innings in a 3-2 victory Monday.

Each team will be trying to cap a brilliant month. The Rays are an MLB-best 19-6 in July, while the Yankees are 18-7.

"We understand that it's not end-of-the-world games, but these are important games in our division. We're trying to win the series," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "After this series there's a lot of baseball left, but these are important games."