As one AL East rival exits the Bronx, another enters a new series at Yankee Stadium. This time the Tampa Bay Rays take a turn against the New York Yankees Monday in the opener of a three-game set. The Yankees are 6-6 in a stretch of 15 consecutive games against division opponents and lost their third straight series this weekend versus the despised Boston Red Sox. You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 7pm et/4pm pt. Boston needed a ninth-inning home run to beat the Yankees on Saturday, then closed the series with Sunday nights 8-5 victory. Yankees starter Chase Whitley struggled to the tune of five runs and eight hits in four innings for New York, losers in six of the past eight games. Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran each hit solo homers in defeat. "I always believe that when you play against teams that are in your division, those are series that youve got to win," said Beltran, who has been dealing with soreness in his forearm and had three hits. "We missed this one." Teixeira has homered in four of his last eight games and has hit safely in 14 of the previous 17 contests. New York is still just two games off the AL East lead. David Phelps tries to pitch the Yankees back to respectability when he toes the rubber Monday night. Phelps is 2-0 in his last three starts and did not figure into the decision of a 7-6 loss at Toronto last Tuesday, as he permitted six runs and eight hits in five innings. Phelps has allowed 15 runs in his last four starts and is 3-4 with a 4.35 earned run average this season. The right-hander has faced Tampa Bay eight times (4 starts) in his career and is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA. Tampa Bay has been playing better baseball of late, but the club is still last in the division at 10 games off the pace. The Rays opened an 11-game road trip by taking three of four games against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, and won the series with Sundays 12-7 offensive outburst. Kevin Kiermaier hit a solo home run and Logan Forsythe added a two-run shot during a seven-run seventh inning for the Rays, who have won six of their last nine games. Matt Joyce had a big game by going 5-for-6 with two homers, three runs scored and four RBI. Joyce matched a Rays single-game record with five hits and 12 total bases. His shot in the third inning ended a drought of 124 at-bats without a homer. "You really dont have too many days like that," Joyce said. "Its nice to have one of those days and enjoy it." Ben Zobrist also went deep and recorded three hits, two RBI and two runs scored in the win. Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb picked up the win and was reached for four runs (3 earned) in five innings. The Rays have won five of their last seven road games and will also visit Detroit for four games on this road trip. They are 16-24 as the guest. Tampa Bay has scored at least five runs in 12 of the last 18 games, going 11-7 in that stretch. Chris Archer hopes to get some more of that run support when he takes the mound in the Bronx. The Rays have scored exactly five runs in each of Archers last two starts, including a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh last Tuesday. Archer fell to 1-3 in his last four decisions after giving up five runs -- four earned -- in seven innings of work. Archer, who is 4-5 with a 3.29 ERA and has thrown six-plus innings six times in the past seven appearances, will put his unblemished mark against the Yankees on the line Monday. He has won all four of his starts in this series and has a 1.26 ERA across 28 2/3 innings. The Rays have won four of seven meetings with the Yankees this season and took two of three matchups in the Bronx from May 2-4. Pirates Jerseys China . Ellis had a season-high 37 points and two key assists late, Dirk Nowitzki led a fourth-quarter rally with 14 of his 35 points, and the Mavericks spoiled Howards best offensive night in Houston with a 123-120 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh Pirates Shirts . Knapp defeated American Alison Riske 6-3, 7-5 to secure Italys victory in the best-of-five series. She held a 5-2 lead in the second set, only to let Riske tie it at five. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/. Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Fake Pirates Jerseys . On Sunday, hell attempt to become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide race on Iowas short track. The 20-year-old Blaney wont be the only kid pushing a podium finish. Stitched Pirates Jerseys . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies.Two great players have decided to join Mariano Rivera in calling it a career at the end of this season. The first was arguably the last star produced by the Montreal Expos organization, Vladimir Guerrero, and the second is one of the all-time greats with the Colorado Rockies, Todd Helton. Helton is calling it quits at the end of this season and will go down as one of the few players who played with the same franchise his entire career. The Blake St. Bombers were born in 1995 when Colorado moved from Mile High Stadium, where it played its first two seasons, to Coors Field. The Rockies, at that time, were the most successful franchise ever. Their first year attendance was nearly 4.5 million - a record for all pro sports. They clinched the National League wild card spot on the final day of the 1995 season, coming back from an 8-2 deficit to win 10-9 and becoming the quickest expansion team ever to make the post-season - doing so in just their third year of existence. The 1995 team featured the likes of Andres Galarraga - who won the National League batting title in 1993 with a .370 batting average - Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, Ellis Burks and Larry Walker. This team could flat out hit, aided and abetted by the rarified Denver air that helped balls carry further and flattened out even the best of curve balls. Helton joined the party in 1997. He had been a two-sport star at the University of Tennessee. He was the starting quarterback with the Volunteers until he was supplanted by some guy named Peyton Manning. They are still good friends to this day and ironically for the past two years have played pro in the same city. Helton has had a spectacular career. He became the 96th player in Major League history to crack 2,500 hits and he leads in seven all-time Rockies hitting categories. Number 17 has a career average of .317 and has hit 367 homers over 2,235 games. Helton is a three-time Gold Glover at first base, but these are the numbers that really stick out. He has over 2,500 hits, 550 doubles, over 350 homers and a .310 or higher batting average. The only other match in Major League history to accomplish that was St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan "the Man" Musial. For the record, Heltons final appearance in Toronto came in a three game series from June 17 through the 19. It was right in the middle of the Blue Jaays record-setting 11 game win streak.dddddddddddd The Jays swept the series and outscored the Rockies 15-5. Helton played the first two games at first base for the Rockies and was rested by skipper Walt Weiss in the third. He went a combined 1-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts. His final hit in Toronto came in the second inning of game one; a line drive single to centre fielder Colby Ramus. The man who gave up that hit was Josh Johnson. This night was arguably his best game as a Blue Jay. Johnson pitched seven and a third shutout innings, gave up just five hits, walked two and struck out 10 but didnt get the decision. The Jays rallied late and beat the Rockies 2-0. Not counting this year, in 20 seasons, the Rockies have had only five winning records. Still, theyve made it to the post-season three times as a wild card and got all the way to the World Series in 2007 where they were swept by Boston in four straight. Though attendance has slipped since the early glory years, Colorado still averages over 2 million and has only slipped below that figure once in 20 years. At one point, they had a stretch of 203 straight sell-outs. Helton wasnt with the Rockies in 1995 and 96 but he can still lay claim to being part of one of the most dominant hitting teams to come down the pike. Colorado lead the National League in hitting every season from 1995 to 2002, led in homeruns from 1995-97 and again in 99. They also led in runs scored in 1995-97 and again from 2000 to 2001. Yes, Helton played his entire home career at Coors Field but on balance you cant deny the mans Hall of Fame credentials. Former Helton teammate Jason Giambi is in the twilight of his career right now with Cleveland. With two weeks to go in the season, the Indians are just a half game back of Texas and Tampa Bay for a wild card spot. If Cleveland gets in, Giambi will be going to the playoffs for the ninth time with his fourth different team. The Baltimore Orioles went into Sundays play leading the American League in walks. The next five behind them in order were Boston, Rays, As, Cleveland and the Tigers. The common factor - four of the six are holding playoff positions at the moment. Cleveland is just a half game out and Baltimore is still alive at three and a half out. The Blue Jays should take note of this if they already havent. ' ' '