New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays: Frankie Montas vs. Shawn Armstrong

The Yankees’ malaise continued on Saturday, losing 2-1 to the Rays, with the lone run coming on a ninth-inning Aaron Judge home run, when it was nearly too late. The loss saw them fall to just four games up on the Rays in the AL East, a long way away from what the lead once was. Today, they’ll need a win to keep that lead from dwindling even further.

On the mound for the Yankees for today’s series finale will be Frankie Montas. Against the Angels, Montas was having a solid outing before getting Ohtani’d, dooming him and the Yankees to another loss, and another sub-par outing since his acquisition. He has faced the Rays twice so far this season when he was with Oakland and put in good outings both times.

Meanwhile for the offense, the “throw things at the wall and see what sticks” run continues. Oswald Peraza is back in the starting lineup, but moved over to second base for this one (Gleyber Torres is on the bench). That means Isiah Kiner-Falefa is indeed starting at shortstop, and his hitting sixth for ... reasons. Also, we get more Aaron Hicks because why not?

For the Rays, Shawn Armstrong will get the start, but that will be in an opener role. Ryan Yarbrough is expected to follow him and be Tampa Bay’s long man.

Come join us in the game thread as the Yankees desperately try to get something going.

How to watch

Location: Tropicana Field - St. Petersburg, FL

First pitch: 1:40 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES Network, Bally Sports Sun, MLB Network (out-of-market only)

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1380 (NYY), WDAE 620 AM/95.3 FM, WTMP (TB)

Online stream: MLB.tv

For updates, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.