Don’t forget tomorrow is Old Timers Day. The video tribute for George Steinbrenner’s death will be before tonight’s game, but before tomorrow’s game you’ll see a video for Bob Sheppard, according to Mark Feinsand.
In a perfect world, I’d say the Rays and Yankees are fighting for home-field advantage in the World Series, but we’re not in a perfect world. The outline for the World Series has already been drawn up.
For the first time since 1996, the National League won the All-Star Game, in case you didn’t hear, giving whichever team makes the World Series from the National League home-field advantage.
As of right now, both the Rays and Yankees would make the playoffs, with the Rays taking the wild card spot instead of the Red Sox. However, the Rays could easily force a flip-flop of power in the AL East with a sweep this weekend.
Head to Head:
These two teams last met in May when the Rays took both games in a short series. Before that, the Yankees took two of three in the second series of the season.
Pitching Matchups:
| Date: | Rays starters | Yankees starters |
| Fri., 7:05 p.m. | James Shields (7-9, 4.87) | CC Sabathia (12-3, 3.09) |
| Sat., 4:10 p.m. | Jeff Niemann (7-2, 2.77) | A.J. Burnett (7-7, 4.75) |
| Sun., 1:05 p.m. | David Price (12-4, 2.42) | Andy Pettitte (11-2, 2.70) |
Players to Watch:
Rays: Carl Crawford. Yankees fans better keep a close eye on him. He very well could be a Yankee next year!
Yankees: Jorge Posada. He’s all rested up and I think he’s primed for a huge second half. Keep a close eye on him this series and the rest of the month.
Prediction:
I’ve now predicted four straight series correctly and currently I’m in a good state of mind. The Yankees will win tonight, but lose a pair over the weekend. You heard it here first.
