Rays Invade Yankees Personal Space

The struggling New York Yankees have let the AL East get a little to tight. They are now tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the division lead.

The Yankees have gone just 5-5 in their last ten games while the Rays have been hot. Tampa has won nine of their last ten including taking two of three from the Yankees.

It’s been a variety of issues for the Yankees of late. One game the lineup won’t produce runs, the next it’s a subpar pitching performance.

The American League East is going to be a race to the finish most likely. If you are the Yankees, you should know every game matters from here on out. The Rays and Red Sox are not going to go away easily.

Tampa’a pitching is to good. The Yankees found out just how good that Tampa staff can be in the past series between the two teams. In the Yankees two losses, they scored a combined two runs.

Tampa’s pitching will keep them right in it in the division. With the Yankees having some pitching issues, do you feel nervous?

A.J. Burnett continues to be very inconsistent. You never know what you will get from him. Sometimes that even changes from inning to inning.

CC Sabathia struggled in his last outing but was able to fight through and pitch a decent game. Javier Vazquez and Phil Hughes have had their ups and downs as well.

The Sergio Mitre experiment lasted one start in the place of the injured Andy Pettitte. Dustin Moseley is now taking that spot with Mitre having been returned to the DL. Moseley pitched well in his first start, but is he really a guy we can count on?

The Yankees need Pettitte back as soon as possible. A healthy Pettitte.

This will come down to pitching. The Rays have a tremendous staff, the Red Sox when healthy have a very good staff, and the Yankees should have a very good one as well.

Right now things in the AL East are just a little to close for comfort. The Yankees personal space has been violated. The Yankees play two more games with Toronto before the Boston Red Sox come into Yankee Stadium for a big four game weekend series starting Friday.

The AL East race is going to be fun to watch, but as a Yankees fan you have to be at least a little nervous.