GameDay Preview: Rays Look For Series Sweep vs. Yankees on Sunday

Shawn Armstrong did a great job filling in for Shane McClahanan last Tuesday, pitching three scoreless innings in a win at Miami when the Tampa Bay ace couldn't go. The Rays are hoping for more of the same on Sunday, when they try to sweep the series against the New York Yankees.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There's a lot at stake for the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, and manager Kevin Cash is hoping for another nice boost from pitcher Shawn Armstrong, who was awesome in an emergency role last Tuesday.

It was Armstrong who was pressed into duty in Miami when ace Shane McClanahan had trouble getting loose prior to his start against the Marlins. Armstrong threw three scoreless innings in the Rays' 7-2 win, and now he'll do the same thing on Sunday in the series finale against the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.

The Rays have won the first two games of the series and are now just four games behind the Yankees in the suddenly-tight American League East race. The Rays have picked up 11.5 games on the Yankees since July 10. 

Armstrong, a 31-year-old New Bern, N.C. native, has bounced around the big leagues since 2015. He's pitched well for the Rays for much of this season. Rays manager Kevin Cash, who's known him since Armstrong's minor-league days in the Cleveland organization, said we're seeing the best of Armstrong now.

"It was a little bit of a fiasco with Shane coming out, but (Armstrong) did such a good of keeping his composure leading up to it,'' Cash said. "He controlled what he could control getting warmed up, and when he got on the mound, he was pretty dominant.

"We needed him to get more than one inning through, and he did a great job of that. I've know Shawn for a long time, and he's changed his approach a little bit. He's developed a sinking fastball, a running fastball, and they compliment each other. His confidence has grown, too. When you're up/down, moving around from team to team, that can weigh on you. But I think he feels confident in his role with us.''

The Rays are expecting to turn the ball over to Ryan Yarbrough after Armstrong. He got rocked in Boston in his last outing, but in mid-August, he pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, in a 4-0 Rays victory over the Yankees.

"I still think Yarbs has thrown the ball well. For whatever reason, he's had his issues in Boston,'' Cash said. "But we'll anticipate he'll bounce back. He's pitched well against New York. It should be a nice contrast for Shawn and Yarbs to kind of compliment each other.

Here's how to watch Sunday's game, with gametime and TV information, the starting lineups and more

How to watch Yankees at Rays 

• Who: New York Yankees (79-54) at Tampa Bay Rays (74-57)
• When: 1:40 p.m. ET, Sunday, Sept. 4
• Where: Tropicana Field,  St. Petersburg, Fla.
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (reporter).
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 182.  
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
• Latest Line: New York is favored at minus-122 on the money line according to the Fanduel.com website line as of Sunday morning. The rays are at plus-104. The over/under is 7.

Projected starting lineups

• New York Yankees: Aaron Judge CF, DJ LeMahieu 1B, Oswaldo Cabrera RF, Giancarlo Stanton DH, Josh Donaldson 3B, Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS, Aaron Hicks LF, Oswald Pereza 2B, Kyle Higashioka C, Frankie Montas P. 
• Tampa Bay Rays: Yandy Diaz 3B, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Manuel Margot RF, Randy Arozarena LF, David Peralta DH, Isaac Paredes 2B, Christian Bethancourt C, Taylor Walls SS, Jose Siri CF, Shawn Armstrong P.

Projected starting pitchers

• New York Yankees: Frankie Montas has been a disappointment so far during his first month and change with the Yankees after coming over from Oakland at trade deadline. In five starts, the former A's ace is 0-2 with a whopping 7.01 ERA. In his last start on Monday against the Los Angeles Angels, he gave up three home runs in the 4-3 loss. He faced the Rays twice earlier this season, getting his first win of the year on April 13 when he allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 A's win in St. Petersburg. On May 4, he pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just four hits, but left with the scored still tied 0-0. The Rays scored three runs in the eighth to win 3-0.
• Tampa Bay Rays: Shawn Armstrong has appeared in 33 games for the Rays this season since joining the team in late May, and this is his second start. He was pressed into duty on Tuesday night when Shane McClanahan (shoulder) couldn't go, and threw three scoreless innings in the Rays' 7-2 victory. He's 2-1 with a 4.72 ERA on the year.

Newsy nuggets

• McCLANAHAN PLAYS CATCH: Tampa Bay ace Shane McClanahan, the injured list with a shoulder issue, played catch from 75 feet prior to Sunday's game. He gave a thumbs-up after he was done and said he felt good. "Shane played catch, 75, felt great. Like I said, he'll be back very soon,'' Cash said. McClanahan is eligible to come off the IL on Sept. 15, but no plan is set yet for pitching in games.
• BRANDON LOWE FEELING BETTER: Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe also went on the IL on Wednesday. He has a right triceps contusion after getting hit by a pitch, but was back on the field Sunday getting some work in. He's on the 10-day IL, so he is eligible to return on Wednesday. "Brandon is doing much better, a quick turnaround. I don't know if we'll get there (by Wednesday ) or not. We'll see. "He hit (Saturday) and took ground balls. (Sunday) he took ground balls and hit, and threw a little bit.''
• BATS HEATING UP: The Rays are averaging 5.07 runs per game since Aug. 4, the best in the American League. Combining that with the Rays' great pitching during that stretch, and it's easy to see why they are 20-9 since the start of August, the best record in the AL. Only the St. Louis Cardinals (24-7) and Los Angeles Dodgers (23-8) have been better. 
• STREAKING RAYS: The Rays have won five straight games heading into Sunday, one shy of a season high. They have won six straight games on two occasions, from May 2-7 (Oakland, Seattle) and Aug. 20-25 (Kansas City/Los Angeles Angels.

Watch Kevin Cash's pregame press conference

Here is the full video of Kevin Cash's Sunday morning meeting with the media, where he talks extensively about his long relationship with starting pitcher Shawn Armstrong. He also provided injury updates on Shane McClanahan and Brandon Lowe.