Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Live Streaming

Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Live | Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees | Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Streaming | Tampa Bay vs NY Yankees MLB Live Stream | Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees Live Webcast

7:05 pm EDT Thu May 20, 2010

The major league-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat a New York Yankees starter who has given them problems in the past in the opener of this two-game series. They’ll face another such pitcher in Andy Pettitte when they go for their sixth straight victory Thursday night. Tampa Bay won 10-6 on Wednesday to push its AL East lead over second-place New York to four games. The Rays ended a six-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium by scoring six runs against A.J. Burnett, who entered the contest with a 12-4 career mark against them. Pettitte has enjoyed similar success against Tampa Bay, going 16-5 with a 3.88 ERA in 28 starts. Since the Rays posted their first winning season and went to the World Series in 2008, though, Pettitte is 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA against them in eight outings. The veteran left-hander returned to the rotation Saturday after being out since May 5 with inflammation around his pitching elbow. Pettitte yielded two hits over 6 1-3 scoreless innings in a 7-1 win over Minnesota.

Pettitte, who has matched his 5-0 start from 1997, has never won his first six decisions. Rays slugger Evan Longoria is 2 for 16 with a homer and nine strikeouts against Pettitte. Longoria has six RBIs in his last three games after going 3 for 4, driving in two runs and stealing two bases Wednesday. The Rays stole six bases to tie Chicago for the AL lead with 45. They have stolen 13 bases without getting caught in splitting four games against the Yankees this season. The banged-up Yankees suffered another injury when Marcus Thames stepped on his own rolling bat and sprained his left ankle Wednesday. Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada are among four regulars who are out, with Posada set to miss three to four weeks with a broken bone in his right foot. New York scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday, but the rally fell short as it lost consecutive home games for the first time. The Yankees’ bullpen has posted an 11.68 ERA over the last four games.