A look at what’s happening around the majors today:
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HOT STUFF
The Rays and Yankees renew their intense AL East rivalry with a Memorial Day matinee in the Bronx to begin a four-game series.
“They hate us and so it’s easy for us to get more excited to play those guys,” Tampa Bay reliever Ryan Thompson said. “It’s kind of how they’ve behaved in the past couple years with us pitching inside, with them throwing at our guys, stuff like that.”
The first-place Rays (34-20) have won 15 of 16 and are tied with San Diego for the best record in the majors. Meanwhile, the Yankees just dropped three straight in Detroit for the Tigers’ first home series sweep of the Bronx Bombers in 21 years.
New York (29-24) was outscored 15-5 with 36 strikeouts during the series and went 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position.
Rich Hill pitches for Tampa Bay against Jameson Taillon at Yankee Stadium.
“We don’t have any reservations about it,” Thompson said. “We just go out there and we’re like, `We’re going to beat those guys.’ They can talk all the talk they want, they can throw at our guys, we’re going to beat them — and in the past two years we’ve definitely done that.”
Tampa Bay topped the Yankees in their Division Series last October on the way to winning the American League pennant. The Rays have won six of nine, including a 3-0 record in New York, during this year’s season series.
“When we play the Yankees, we don’t talk about it, it’s just something different,” Thompson said. “There’s a little bit extra that you can just feel it in the room, in the clubhouse and the field. We want to beat those guys.”
PAIR OF ACES
Jack Flaherty (8-1, 2.54 ERA) pitches for St. Louis against Los Angeles newcomer Trevor Bauer (5-3, 2.07) in the opener…
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