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The Rays want a rivalry with the Yankees so badly

The Yankees and Rays have a rivalry that burns with the intensity of an Easy Bake Oven. CC Sabathia and Andrew Kittredge hit batters in 2018, with the former alerting the Rays’ dugout that it wasn’t an accident, and Tampa Bay has used it as bulletin-board material ever since.

Exhibit A.

Masahiro Tanaka plunked Joey Wendle on September 1. Most likely intentional, given Tanaka’s pinpoint command, and the Rays brushed back DJ LeMahieu in the previous game. Yet in the ninth inning, when Aroldis Chapman lost control of a ball that sailed near Mike Brosseau’s head, the benches cleared.