SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 vs. NEW YORK YANKEES LH David Price (7-5, 3.29) vs. LH CC Sabathia (11-10, 4.83) First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. | Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla. | TV: Sun Sports | Radio: WXTB 97.9 FM, WHNZ 1250 AM, WGES 680 AM (Spanish) Game No.: 127 (73-53) | Home Game No.: 66 (42-23) | All-Time Game No.: 2,553 (1,176-1,376) | All-Time Home Game No.: 1,279 (657-621) April: 12-14 | May: 18-10 | June: 13-15 | July: 21-5 | August: 8-10 A WARM WELCOME—Newly-inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer and for- ACE IS BACK—Since his July 2 return RAYS AFTER 126 GAMES mer Buccaneer Warren Sapp will throw the ceremonial first pitch tonight. from the DL, LH David Price is 6-1 with Year W-L Pct. Pos GB a 1.89 ERA (76.1-IP, 16-ER), 57 SO 2013 73-53 .579 T-1 -- GOOD DEEDS—Earlier today several Rays made community appearanc- and only 5 BB in 10 starts…since the 2012 70-56 .556 2 3.5 es…OF Wil Myers, pitching coach Jim Hickey, head athletic trainer Ron beginning of July, he ranks 2nd in the 2011 69-57 .548 3 8.5 Porterfield and strength and conditioning coordinator Kevin Barr helped majors in IP (0.2 behind LAD Clayton 2010 78-48 .619 T-1 -- with a clinic for local baseball coaches at Tropicana Field…Matt Joyce Kershaw) and leads the AL in ERA 2009 69-57 .548 3 10.0 2008 77-49 .611 1 +4.5 gave a hitting lesson at Tropicana Field for winners of the Rays Broadcast (3rd in majors behind Kershaw’s 1.17 Auction…Sam Fuld signed autographs at a Sweetbay in St. Pete, courtesy and MIA Jose Fernandez’s 1.62). of TGI Fridays Frozen Snacks…mascots Raymond and DJ Kitty repre- Ê Price has a 5.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio (106-SO, 19-BB)…in AL his- sented the Rays at Comic Con in the Tampa Convention Center and met tory only three left-handed pitchers have finished a season with a several Star Wars characters, among others. SO/BB ratio this high: SEA/TEX Cliff Lee in 2010 (10.28), CLE CC Sabathia in 2007 (5.65) and NYY David Wells in 1998 (5.62). WEEKEND GIVEAWAYS—Tonight the first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a (Matt) Moore Cowbell presented by Dairy Queen…tomorrow STRIPES > PINSTRIPES—Last night RH Chris Archer improved to 3-0 kids 14 and under will receive a (Desmond) Jennings the Jet action figure with a 1.23 ERA (22-IP, 3-ER) in 3 starts vs. the Yankees this season, be- presented by REMAX while supplies last. coming the first rookie to record 3 wins over New York in a season since TEX Kevin Brown (3) in 1989…currently his 1.23 ERA ranks 2nd all-time RAY MATTER—Last night’s 7-2 win com- A.L. EAST STANDINGS among rookies vs. the Yankees (min. 20 IP), trailing CWS Bill Long (1.13) bined with Boston’s 2-0 loss to the Dodgers Tampa Bay 73-53 .579 -- in 1987…if he faces the Yankees again in the Sep 24-26 series, Archer moved the Rays back into first place in the Boston 75-55 .577 -- could become the first rookie ever to beat the Yankees 4 times in 4 games. AL East, percentage points ahead of the Baltimore 69-58 .543 4.5 Ê Last night the Rays improved to 32-8 when the starting pitcher goes Red Sox…the Rays have won 7 of the last New York 68-60 .531 6.0 at least 7 innings…they have won 12 of their last 14…however it Toronto 57-71 .442 17.5 9 games, gaining 4.0 games on Boston dur- was only the third time in the last 12 games and fourth in the last 16 ing this span after falling 3.5 games on the A.L. WILD CARD games a Rays starter did so (Archer and David Price, twice each). Red Sox during the 6-game losing streak STANDINGS Tampa Bay 73-53 .579 -- that preceded this stretch…today the Rays DEFENSIVE WIZARDRY—Through 126 FEWEST ERRORS AFTER Boston 75-55 .577 -- 126 GAMES, MLB HISTORY are in first place in the AL East for only the Oakland 71-56 .559 -- games, the Rays 45 errors are tied for 2nd Baltimore, 2013 38 second day out of the last 24 (also through Baltimore 69-58 .543 2.0 fewest in major league history behind this Tampa Bay, 2013 45 Tuesday)…the other two times when the Cleveland 69-59 .539 2.5 year’s Orioles (38; see chart)…the Rays Boston, 2006 45 Rays had at least a share of first at this point New York 68-60 .531 3.5 and Orioles (38 errors through 127 games) Seattle, 2003 45 in the season, they went on to win the divi- (GB of 2nd Wild Card) are both on pace to break the 2003 Mari- sion (2008, 2010). MLB’S BEST SINCE MAY 8 ners’ mark for fewest errors in a 162-game Ê With a win tonight the Rays can Los Angeles-NL 63-33 .656 season (65)—the O’s are on pace for 48 and the Rays are on pace for 58, match their season-high mark of 21 Tampa Bay 59-35 .628 15 fewer than club record of 73 in 2011…last year through 126 games the games over .500 (twice previously, ATL/PIT 58-38 .604 Rays had nearly twice as many errors (89). last 66-45 through Aug 4). Ê Last night the Rays snapped an 8-game losing streak when following ZOBRIST CAN SET RECORD—Last night Ben Zobrist tied Aki Iwamu- an off-day, winning for the first time since May 14 vs. BOS…yester- ra’s club record of 75 consecutive games without an error at second base… day the Rays began a stretch of 37 games in 38 days to finish the with only 2 errors at the keystone this season (April 8 at TEX, May 11 vs. regular season…their only remaining off-day is Sep 9. SD), he leads all ML second basemen with a .995 fielding pct. …the club Ê The Rays boast the AL’s best record since May 8 (59-35, .628)—after record is .990 by Iwamura in 2008. starting the year 14-18—as well as since June 29 (32-14, .696)… Ê Zobrist, the longest-tenured Ray, last night passed B.J. Upton (447) these marks both rank 2nd in the majors to the Dodgers. for 5th on the Rays career RBI list (448)…his next RBI will tie Aubrey Ê The Rays have won 19 of their last 28 one-run games after starting Huff (449) for 4th place…Zobrist is also approaching the club record the season 2-8 (21-17 overall). for walks, 10 shy of leader Carlos Pena (460)…he is 2 HR shy of Ê Last night the Rays offense totaled only 1 runner left on base (Yunel tying Carl Crawford (104) for 5th place in club history. Escobar in the 4th)…it was their fewest LOB in a game since Aug 15, 2012 at SEA in Felix Hernandez’s perfect game. LAST NIGHT’S POWER TRIP—The Rays slugged 4 HR last night, tying their season high (5th time, last July 19 at TOR)…it was the first time the RAYS vs. YANKEES—The Rays are 8-6 against the Yankees this season Rays hit 4 HR against the Yankees since Aug 12, 2011 at NYY, when they (4-3 at home, 4-3 in New York)…since July 21, 2011 they are 15-5 at Tropi- hit 5 against CC Sabathia, their most ever against one pitcher in a game. cana Field…Rays starting pitchers are 8-3 with a 2.80 ERA (93.1-IP, 29-ER) Ê Last night Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce hit back-to-back homers against the Yankees this season, while the bullpen is 0-3 with a 5.63 ERA in the 3rd inning, the 7th time this season the club has gone back- (32-IP, 20-ER)…the Rays have not lost a season series to New York since to-back (including one back-to-back-to-back)…only twice have the 2009, going 10-8 last season, 9-9 in 2011 and 10-8 in 2010…the clubs meet Rays done it more than 7 times in a season: 2007 (9 times) and 2008 a final time at Yankee Stadium, Sep 24-26. (9 times, including one back-to-back-to-back). Ê This series matches the majors’ two best teams since 2008 in the Ê All 4 HR came off Hiroki Kuroda, ending his streak of 8 starts with- Yankees (547-391, .583) and Rays (531-405, .567). out allowing a HR…according to Elias, the Rays are only the third team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to hit at least 4 HR off a pitcher RISING IN THE EAST—The Rays are 5-2 so far in a stretch of 9 straight who entered the game with a streak of 8 or more starts without a HR: games vs. AL East opponents (2-1 vs. TOR, 2-0 vs. BAL, 1-0 vs. NYY)… Pirates 6/4/1944 5 HR Bill Voiselle, NYG (8 starts) Rays have won 16 of their last 21 games vs.