New York @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Apr 2, 2010 ) Baltimore 6, NY Yankees 6
The New York Yankees are coming off their first series loss of the season, but that streak figures to end as they get a reprieve in the form of the Baltimore Orioles.
New York dropped two of three games on the road against the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend. The Orioles, on the other hand, have yet to find any consistent formula for winning success and currently own the worst record in the majors at 3-16.
The Orioles will be looking for their first home win of the season when they welcome the Yankees for a three-game set beginning Tuesday.
Things don’t figure to be easy for Baltimore in the opener as the Yankees will send the ultra-hot Phil Hughes to mound, who nearly notched a no-hitter in his last outing.
Hughes took his no-hitter into the eighth inning on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics before Eric Chavez hit a comebacker that bounced off the pitcher’s chest and arm for the lone hit of the ball game.
The right-hander settled for the win with a career-high 10 strikeouts to improve his record to 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA on the season.
Hughes, however, will be attempting to turn his luck around at Camden Yards, where he is 0-2 with a 16.72 ERA in two career starts.
Baltimore has lost its first six home games and is two losses short of starting 0-8 at home since the team started 0-21 in 1988.
Trying to get Baltimore in the win column is veteran Kevin Millwood, who is looking for his first win as a member of the Orioles.
Millwood, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers, is 0-3 despite posting an ERA of 3.38 with 24 strikeouts against four walks through four starts. He has made it out of the sixth inning only once.
The 35-year-old has made nine starts over his career against the Yankees and is 2-4 with a 4.86 ERA.
Much of Baltimore’s problems can be pinned on the offense, which is batting .224 as a team with 62 runs scored -- ranking 13th in the American League.
Doing his part is second base man Ty Wiggington, who leads the club in hitting (.327), home runs (six), RBIs (12), runs (10) and OPS (1.121).
The Yankees could soon regain the services of designated hitter Nick Johnson, who has been sidelined with lower-back stiffness. He will warm up with the team prior to Tuesday’s contest and manager Joe Girardi said Johnson could be in the lineup.
The Orioles went 5-13 in 2009 against the Yankees..