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(Sports Network) - The New York Yankees could have shortstop Derek Jeter back in the lineup when they open a brief two-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays this evening at Tropicana Field.

Jeter has missed the last six games with a quadriceps injury, but has resumed batting practice and fielding drills while stepping up the intensity of his running program without any problems.

The Yankees could certainly use Jeter back in their lineup after the team continued its offensive struggles over the weekend. New York dropped two of three games to the hated Boston Red Sox, including an 8-5 loss in Sunday's finale.

Phil Hughes (0-2) never recovered from an ugly first inning and was tagged with seven runs - six earned - on six hits and three walks in two-plus innings for the loss.

Jose Molina was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Jason Giambi homered, but the Yankees couldn't climb out of an early 7-1 hole and fell for the fourth time in their last six tries.

The news got even worse for the Yankees, as Molina had to leave the game in the eighth inning with a hamstring injury and could be headed for the disabled list. Molina had been filling in for the injured Jorge Posada, who hasn't caught since last week because of a dead arm. He replaced Molina behind the plate last night, but it is unlikely that he will be back there tonight.

New York will also likely be without star reliever Joba Chamberlain, who left the team after last night's loss to be with his ailing father. Chamberlain's father collapsed on Sunday and is reportedly in critical condition in a Nebraska hospital.

Ian Kennedy will try and right not only the team's ship when he takes the mound tonight, but his own after two dreadful performances to start the season. After getting torched by the Rays in his season debut on April 4, Kennedy came out of the pen to face the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday and allowed two runs and two hits in three innings.

Kennedy is 1-1 lifetime against the Rays with a 6.75 ERA in two starts.

Tampa will counter with 25-year-old right-hander Andy Sonnanstine, who is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA. Sonnanstine was tagged with the loss on Wednesday against Seattle, as he gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Sonnanstine defeated Kennedy and the Yanks on April 4 and is 2-1 in his young career against them, while pitching to a 3.98 ERA in three starts.

Tampa enters this series on the heels of taking two of three over the weekend from the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays won Sunday's rubber match of the set, as B.J. Upton hit a three-run home run and Jeff Niemann pitched six strong innings in his big league debut to lead Tampa to a 6-2 victory.

Niemann (1-0), the fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft, allowed one run on six hits and struck out five as the Rays won for the third time in their last four tries.

Carl Crawford hit a two-run single for Tampa Bay, which scored all six of its runs in the fifth inning. Akinori Iwamura drove in a run and scored one in the win.

The Yankees split a four-game set with the Rays earlier in the season, but are 25-15 in the series since the start of the 2006 campaign, including an 11-7 mark in St. Petersburg in that time.