The Yankees got some good pitching and some timely hitting on Monday, outscoring the Tampa Bay Rays 15–2 as they took two from their division rivals. The Yankees moved to 9 games over the Red Sox in the A.L. East standings and are 11.5 games ahead of the Rangers, who are the top team on the outside still looking in. The Yankees also lead the Angels by 6.5 games for home field advantage throughout the postseason.

The first game was a tight one, as the two teams were still tied at one apiece after 7 innings. CC Sabathia was great, striking out 10 and allowing just 3 hits in 7 innings. The Yankees finally pulled ahead in the 8th, as a sac fly by Robinson Cano put the Yankees ahead by the score of 2–1. The Yanks would tack on another two runs in the inning to go up 4–1, which would prove to be the final score. Mariano Rivera closed the game out with a scoreless ninth inning in his first appearance since September 1.

Game 2 was a different story, as the Yankees pretty much had this game in the bag after an 8-run inning put them up by an 8–1 margin. Mark Teixeira homered twice in the game, leading the Yankees to an 11–1 romp. A.J. Burnett, who has struggled of late, was much better this time around as he allowed just a run on 4 hits in 6 innings of work. The win was the 89th of the season for the Yankees, matching their total from last season with 23 games still remaining.

Derek Jeter still trails Lou Gehrig by 3 hits in the chase for the Yankees' all-time hits record, as he was 0-for-4 in both games.

The Yankees will see young rookie David Price at 7:05 ET tonight and they will counter with Chad Gaudin.

Recap records: Seamus: 41–23, Patrick: 37–17, Andrew: 11–10