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Over his past four appearances, Joba Chamberlain has had trouble finding the plate.

JOBA'S CONTROL ISSUES

By MARK SIMON, ESPN Research

Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees' bullpen had trouble in Tuesday night's matchup against the Blue Jays. Chamberlain has run into issues with wildness recently, and that was evident in the 2 1/3-inning stint in his first major league start, as he walked four Blue Jays hitters.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL

• Rays at Red Sox, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN

Right now, his biggest problem is getting his breaking ball over against left-handed hitters. In his past four appearances, Chamberlain has thrown his curve/slider/other off-speed pitches for strikes just seven times in 19 pitches against lefties (36.8 percent). Once he's able to do that successfully, it's likely his walk total will decrease and the numbers will meet -- or at least come near -- expectations. As for the Yankees' bullpen, there are many problems and no guarantees, save for Mariano Rivera, with Chamberlain out of the mix.

Joba's numbers
	First 36 games	Last four games
Innings pitched	42 1/3	7 2/3
Strikeouts	56	11
Walks	13	8

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RAYS HERE TO STAY

By Rick Sutcliffe, ESPN

After 60 games, teams have a good idea of what they have as well as what they need. It's apparent what the Tampa Bay Rays (35-23) have -- youth and strong starting pitching. What they need, though, is a right-handed bat and someone who can play right field. (If Tampa Bay had a healthy Rocco Baldelli, they'd be much closer to being a complete team.)

The Rays have a very good young starting rotation. The rotation has been tremendous, and it isn't overexposing the bullpen. But one aspect that tends to get overlooked is Tampa Bay's defense, and that's another way of beating a team. (You don't always have to score a bunch of runs to win games.) Third baseman Evan Longoria is going to win a Gold Glove at some point in his career, Carlos Pena is above-average at first base and Akinori Iwamura has yet to make an error at second base. Center fielder B.J. Upton -- although he doesn't always take the best routes to the ball -- reminds me of former Gold Glove center fielder Paul Blair with his long, looping strides. And offensively, you have to assume things are only going to get better for Carl Crawford (.275), Pena (.227) and Longoria (.237).

Tampa Bay went into Boston earlier this season and got swept, but the Rays are playing with a great deal of confidence, and their fans are starting to believe in them. And while I'm not going to say they'll win the AL East, the Rays aren't going away anytime soon.

FORWARD THINKING: WEDNESDAY

• Rays at Red Sox, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN: Josh Beckett (5-4, 4.30 ERA) has already faced the Rays twice this season. He put forth similar efforts, but won one and lost one. He is 3-0 overall at home this season. Edwin Jackson (3-4, 3.70 ERA) has struggled as he's gotten deeper into games. Between pitches 76-90, teams are hitting .341 against him.

• Marlins at Braves, 1:05 p.m. ET: Mark Hendrickson (7-3, 5.27 ERA) has been roughed up in his past two outings, giving up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies and and five in five innings against San Francisco. Tom Glavine (2-2, 4.56 ERA) is still having problems getting reacquainted with Turner Field. His ERA at home is 6.20, compared to 3.48 on the road. And Wednesday is a day game -- Glavine is 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA in day games this season.

• Cubs at Padres, 10:05 ER: Greg Maddux (3-4, 3.69 ERA) gets another look at one of his old teams. Over his career, Maddux is 12-4 with a 2.71 ERA in 162 2/3 innings against the Cubs. Ted Lilly (5-4, 5.54 ERA) has the second-worst ERA on the Cubs. Reliever Carmen Pignatiello has the team's worst ERA (13.50), and he made just two appearances before being sent back to the minors.

• Complete list of pitching probables for Wednesday's games