Baltimore @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 30, 2011 ) Baltimore 3, NY Yankees 17
THE STORY: Much like a down-and-out boxer, the Baltimore Orioles may be hoping that the host New York Yankees wore themselves out by throwing too many punches in Saturday's doubleheader mauling. The Yankees bludgeoned a pair of pitchers called up from the minors Saturday, putting up 25 runs and 36 hits to extend their season record to 8-1 against Baltimore. In desperate need of a well-pitched game, the Orioles send right-hander Jake Arrieta to the mound to oppose veteran Freddy Garcia in the finale of the four-game series Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Jake Arrieta (10-7, 5.12 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Freddy Garcia (9-7, 3.23).
Arrieta broke a three-game losing streak in his last outing, but he wasn't overly impressive in allowing four runs on five hits in five innings against Toronto. Since opening the season 8-3, he has allowed a minimum of three earned runs in each of his last eight starts and has failed to get beyond five innings in five of them. He is 2-0 with a 4.07 ERA in four career starts versus New York. Derek Jeter is 5-for-11 against him. Garcia has been the Yankees' best pitcher after ace CC Sabathia, churning out quality starts with surprising ease. He is 4-1 in his last six starts and has won his last two outings, allowing a total of three runs in 14 1/3 innings. Garcia has not surrendered a home run in his last eight starts. He dominated the Orioles on April 24, tossing six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He needs to be wary of J.J. Hardy, who is 4-for-10 against him.
ABOUT THE YANKEES (63-42): New York set a franchise record by scoring 12 runs in the first inning of Saturday’s Game 2 romp en route to piling up 17 runs and 24 hits. Nick Swisher had a spectacular day, homering and collected three hits in both ends of the doubleheader to raise his batting average by 10 points to .270, and extend his hitting streak to six games. Robinson Cano had his first career five-hit game and drove in five runs and Curtis Granderson collected four hits in the nightcap. Mark Teixeira has 12 RBIs in the first nine games of the homestand that ends Sunday.
ABOUT THE ORIOLES (42-62): Can things get any worse for Baltimore? Well, yes. Between games of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Orioles traded their most effective reliever, Koji Uehara, to the Texas Rangers. And following the second game, Baltimore dealt power-hitting first baseman Derrek Lee to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Uehara had not allowed a run since June 19, and Lee was starting to find a groove at the plate. If that wasn’t enough, reliever Mike Gonzalez was forced to leave Saturday night’s game after taking a line drive from Teixeira off his wrist. Vlad Guerrero did go 4-for-4 with two RBIs in the nightcap.
FINAL PITCH: Yankees reliever Rafael Soriano made his first appearance since May 13 in the 17-3 blowout. He pitched a perfect ninth inning in mop-up duty, striking out two batters.