After yesterday's rejuvinating win, the Baltimore Orioles (49-55) head up to the Bronx to face the New York Yankees (58-46). The Yanks are looking to win their 11th straight home game as they open this three-game series. In May, the Orioles took two out of three from the Yankees, but the pinstripes have been on a roll ever since the All-Star Game. After the break, the Yankees won their first eight games, sweeping a six-game homestand. They also just took two out of three from the Red Sox, so they're probably amped about that. Now they are only three games behind division leaders Tampa Bay.
Obviously our toughest challenge is going against former Oriole Mike "Moose" Mussina (13-6). In his two starts since the All-Star break, Mussina has allowed one run in 14 innings. But we all remember his start against the Orioles on May 20, when we won 12-2. Since 2006, Mussina is 1-3 with a 6.18 ERA against the Orioles. So we can hope playing his former team can continue to psyche Moose out. However Johnny Damon and A-Rod have dominated against the O's, hitting eight RBI's in the last seven games and 13 RBI's in the last 12 home games, respectively.
But, of course, the Orioles are coming out with the motivation of ending their 15 straight Sunday losing streak. Jeremy Guthrie (6-8) is starting for the Orioles and he allowed only two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings to Toronto on Wednesday. In Guthrie's only start of the season against the Yanks on May 28, he allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings of a 4-2 loss.
All in all, we're going to have to score a lot of runs to out-hit the Yanks, something we don't usually do with Guthrie on the mound. But given Moose's track record pitching against the Orioles, we might just be able to pull it off.
game time: 7:05 p.m.
tv/radio: MASN HD, WHFS 105.7
Keywords: Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees
