Yankees lineup vs. Rays - Masahiro Tanaka to throw 25-pitch bullpen tomorrow

The Yankees will try to dig themselves out of a four-game deficit for the second Wild Card tonight as they open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at The Trop. New York will be sending Brandon McCarthy to the mound to oppose Alex Cobb for the Rays. Here is the lineup McCarthy will have behind him.

#Yankees lineup vs Rays: Gardner LF, Jeter SS, Ellsbury CF, Teixeira 1B, Beltran DH, Headley 3B, Drew 2B, Prado RF, Cervelli C, McCarthy P

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 15, 2014

This lineup is really no different than the ones we've been accustomed to of late. Hopefully Stephen Drew and Martin Prado can get themselves going at the dish, which has been a bit of a struggle for them since joining the Yankees at the trade deadline.

In happy news:

Girardi said Tanaka will throw a 25-pitch bullpen tomorrow

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) August 15, 2014

This is just another step in hopefully a return to complete health for the Yankees' ace. Avoiding Tommy John surgery (at least for now) would be a huge gift for a team that really can't afford to lose Tanaka for all of next season. Here's hoping that he continues to feel no pain when throwing and can, at the very least, position himself to be 100% for next season if not sooner.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.