Yanks Ready for Rays

The defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays will welcome the Yankees to the Trop for a 3 game set starting Monday night. Chien Ming Wang will look to bounce back from his poor first outing in Baltimore as he will be countered by left-hander Scott Kazmir. The Yankees will watch from the dugout as the Rays will be raising their American League East Champions and American League Champions Banners. This will be the third of four season openers the Yankees will take part in. The next and final one will be to open their season opener at the New Yankee Stadium against Cleveland later this week.

It will be interesting to see if the Yankees will show the same respect and class as they have in the past for Red Sox banner raising ceremonies. Mark Teixeira is not expected to start once again, as he is still hampered by that sore wrist. I’d like to see Joe Girardi give Ramiro Pena a start at third over Cody Ransom. Ransom has not been playing well both at the plate and in the field. At the very least, you should get better defense with Pena in the field. The Yankees are banking on Swisher and Cano to continue to carry the lineup in Teixeira’s absence. Otherwise, it could be a long day as Kazmir owned the Yankees to the tune of a 2-1 record with 1.06 ERA in 3 starts against the Bombers last season.