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Clemens faces Devil Rays

Jul 13, 2007 - 2:02 PM Ny Yankees (43-43)at Tampa Bay 7:10 pm EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) - Looking to move back above the .500 mark, the New York Yankees continue a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday.

Baseball's biggest disappointment, the Yankees are starting to show some signs of turning things around. They have won six of their last eight games.

Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu all homered as the Yankees coasted to a 7-3 victory in the series opener. For Rodriguez, it was his major league-leading 31st blast of the season.

The Yankees, who are 10 games behind the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox and eight behind Cleveland in the wild card race,play their next 28 games vs. teams with losing records.

Roger Clemens (2-3, 3.63 ERA), who has been brilliant in his last two outings, gets the ball for the Yankees. The future Hall of Famer has gone eight innings in each of last two starts, allowing two runs and seven hits.

Clemens also has had excellent success vs. the Devil Rays, posting a 10-4 record with a 3.11 ERA in 19 career starts.

The Devil Rays, who play seven of their next 11 games vs. the Yankees, send Scott Kazmir (5-6, 4.41) to the mound as they try to snap a three-game losing streak.

The 23-year-old lefthander was tagged for five runs and seven hits in five-plus inning of a 12-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Kazmir, who has not lasted more than six inning innings in any of his last seven starts, is 1-3 in seven appearances - six starts vs. New York.

Tampa Bay has lost 14 of its last 15 games.