New York @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2011 ) Baltimore 2, NY Yankees 4
THE STORY: Hurricane Irene threatens to tear apart this weekend’s five-game series between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees at Camden Yards. The teams were already scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, though the weather forecasts now have it looking as though both Saturday games and the Sunday afternoon tilt could be washed away. The possibility has been raised of playing a pre-emptive doubleheader on Friday to at least get one of the weekend games in, but the teams have so far been reluctant to agree to that idea. With the way the Orioles have been playing lately and the offensive show that the Yankees put on Thursday, both teams should want to play as many games as possible in the near future. Baltimore will be looking to post its fifth consecutive victory when it hosts New York on Friday night.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, YES (New York), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Tommy Hunter (1-1, 6.20 ERA) vs. Yankees RH A.J. Burnett (9-10, 4.96 ERA).
Hunter is 1-1 with a 6.08 ERA in four starts since joining the Orioles prior to the trade deadline. The burly righthander got knocked around against the Los Angeles Angels last Saturday, surrendering six runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Hunter has not faced New York since he was with the Texas Rangers in the 2010 playoffs and owns an 0-1 mark with a 6.75 ERA in two career starts against the Yankees.
The looming doubleheader on Saturday helped Burnett avoid demotion to the bullpen for at least one more week. As a result, New York continues to carry six starters. Burnett has struggled to a 1-4 record with a 6.93 ERA since June 29 and is coming off a brutal outing at Minnesota in which he allowed seven earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings to absorb the loss. The veteran righthander lost to the Orioles on July 29, yielding four runs in eight innings, and owns a 5-4 mark with a 3.82 ERA in 11 career starts against the division rivals.
ABOUT THE ORIOLES (51-77): Baltimore received the crushing news that former American League Cy Young Award winner and longtime team fixture Mike Flanagan had been found dead on Wednesday near his home in Maryland. Baltimore seems to be honoring Flanagan with its pitching lately, as the team is coming off a four-game sweep at Minnesota in which it allowed a total of four runs. Zach Britton, Alfredo Simon, Jeremy Guthrie and Jo-Jo Reyes each earned wins in the series and the bullpen combined for 10 scoreless innings. The Orioles have won five straight once before this season, from May 21-26.
ABOUT THE YANKEES (78-50): New York made major league history on Thursday afternoon with three grand slams in the same game. Trailing 7-1 after the third inning, the Yankees batted around in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth en route to a 22-9 triumph. Russell Martin, whose grand slam in the sixth put New York ahead for good, finished 5-for-5 with a pair of homers and six RBIs. Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 16 games with his grand slam in the fifth and Curtis Granderson went over 100 RBIs on the season with his grand slam in the eighth. The contest came within a few minutes of breaking the record for the longest nine-inning game in history.
FINAL PITCH: Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees lineup on Thursday after missing two straight games with a sprained thumb. Rodriguez had played in just one contest since returning from knee surgery when he suffered the thumb injury. He went 2-for-4 in his return.