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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

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Hey New York, here come the Rays

Posted Sep 20, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Sep 20, 2010 at 11:04 AM

The Stadium will be rocking tonight when the Rays and Yankees play the first of four games

ROGER MOONEY
NEW YORK – You know you’ve arrived when you make the top teaser on the back page of the New York Post.

There it is in today’s edition above photos of Eli Manning being harassed by Dwight Freeney and Braylon Edwards celebrating his touchdown catch against the Patriots:

“HERE COME THE RAYS!”

Indeed.

The Rays and Yankees, separated by a half-game when they met last Monday for the start of that epic three-game series, will be separated by a half-game when they meet tonight at Yankee Stadium during the first game of a four game series that could tilt the AL East crown in the favor of one team.

These are the last of the seven games between these teams played over an 11-day stretch.

So these games are, what? The Final Four?

We can only hope this series is almost as good as they one that played out at the Trop.

We could ask for the same, but might that be greedy? Or, perhaps, not even possible?

Three one-run games that changed the lead in the AL East each night, those are tough acts to follow. You hope to see one game like that during a series, but three? And now they play each other four times?

Here is what some of the Yankees are saying about the series:

Derek Jeter: “Of course, we’re battling for the division, and we face them four games, so we’ll see what happens. They have a great pitching staff, and we believe we do as well, and you should have low-scoring games.”

Mark Teixeira: “With how good their pitching staff is. If our pitchers step up, there’s not going to be any blowouts. Two good teams playing against each other, they’re going to be battles.”

Lance Berkman: “The East is going to come down to the last weekend. Unless something crazy happens like we win four straight or something like that. In a four-game series with two good teams, usually it’s two and two and we’re right where we were and nobody gains any ground. I don’t have a crystal ball, but that’s the feeling I get, that it’s going to go down to the wire.”