Playoff Feel In May Appears In New York Yankees Tampa Bay Rays Rivalry

During the 60-game pandemic season of 2020 and the season that followed in 2021 when things were slowly emerging from the pandemic, the Tampa Bay Rays added a new adjective to describe themselves against the Yankees.

The word was nemesis as the Rays won eight of 10 meetings in 2020, followed by a five-game ALDS decided in San Diego. Then in 2021 they won 11 of the 19 meetings, including seven of 10 in New York with five of this wins coming within the first two months when the Yankees sputtered around the .500.