Yanks bats awake in time to face Rays

Yanks bats awake in time to face Rays

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David Price of Tampa Bay Rays looks to quell resurgent Yankees. 

The Yankees hope they turned a corner with their 10-run explosion against the Royals Sunday.

Unfortunately for the Bombers, waiting for them around that corner are the Rays and their vaunted pitching staff.

Following a frustrating week that saw the Yankees struggle to score runs against a number of no-name pitchers, the Rays will throw James Shields, Jeff Niemann and David Price during the three-game set that opens Tuesday night in the Bronx.
All of them are good, Derek Jeter said. Its always a challenge when we play those guys.

Tampa Bays rotation boasts a 3.51 ERA, second-best in the AL and more than two runs lower than the Yankees, whose starting five ranks 11th at 5.54.

You have to beat the best, right? Thats the beauty of baseball, Mark Teixeira said. You cant complain about matchups, because if you want to be world champs, youve got to beat the best. Its a good test for us.

Robinson Cano smacked a grand slam to break open Sundays win over the Royals, but can one big hit against Luke Hochevar and his 9.00 ERA turn around his season?

Im just going to go with the same mind, just go to the at-bat and go to the plate and get a hit, Cano said. You dont want to put pressure on yourself and send negative messages to your mind. The biggest thing is that I feel good.

Canos slam was the big hit in Sundays victory, but theres no denying how dreadful his season had been to that point. Cano has eight RBI in 28 games, and a .138 average with runners in scoring position.

Alex Rodriguez, who also homered Sunday, hasnt been much better, hitting .207 with men in scoring position to give him 11 RBI. A-Rod called the Rays staff as good as it gets, but hes hopeful that the good swings he and Cano took Sunday can help springboard them into a hot streak.

Thats what were expected to do, Rodriguez said. For us to do what we want to do this year, Robbie and I hitting three and four, were going to have to do damage like that."

Cano and A-Rod havent been the only culprits, as the entire team has combined to hit .254 with men in scoring position. Of the everyday players, only Brett Gardner (.667), Jeter (.375) and Raul Ibanez (.304) are hitting over .300 with RISP.

As bad as Canos start has been, it pales in comparison to his first 31 games in 2008. Cano was hitting .150 with two homers and seven RBI on May 5, but he hit .300 from that point forward, finishing the season with 14 home runs and 72 RBI. That turnaround gave Cano the confidence he needed to emerge as one of the games best hitters the following season.

NO ANDY DECISION
Brian Cashman said no decision had been made on Andy Pettitte, who gave up five runs (three earned) in five innings in his sixth minor-league start Sunday. Pettitte declared himself ready to return to the majors, but Cashman was not prepared to say whether his next start would be with the Yankees. He got his work in; he certainly wasnt as bad as that line, the GM said. Well talk about it and decide what we do next. . . . Triple-A Scranton was rained out Monday, pushing Brett Gardners rehab assignment to Tuesday, meaning he wont return from the DL before Thursday.