Baltimore @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 7, 2010 ) Baltimore 6, NY Yankees 2
The streaking Baltimore Orioles look to continue their winning ways against the American League East Division's heavyweights on Wednesday when they go for a three-game sweep against the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
After taking two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays, who lead the AL wild card race, the Orioles will go for their first sweep of the Yankees in New York since June 1986.
Jake Arrieta pitched 6 1/3 innings of effective baseball and Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold each drove in two runs to lead Baltimore to a 6-2 victory on Tuesday.
The win denied Yankees starter CC Sabathia his 20th victory of the season, a milestone he was attempting to reach for the first time in his career. The Orioles won the season opener 4-3 on Monday.
Winners of four straight, Baltimore is 21-13 under manager Buck Showalter, who managed the Yankees from 1992-95.
New York had won eight straight before losing the final game of a three-game series to Toronto and then dropping the first two games of its series with last-place Baltimore.
Brad Bergesen (6-10, 5.47 ERA) gets the start today for the Orioles on Wednesday.
Bergesen had won his last three decisions before allowing five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. He walked five against the Red Sox and could be in trouble against a Yankee squad desperate for a win while it battles the Rays for AL East supremacy.
New York leads Tampa by 1 1/2 games in the division race with the Rays a comfortable seven games up in the AL wild card standings.
Bergesen is 0-2 against the Yankees in his career and has been knocked around pretty good. He has yielded 10 runs and 10 hits in 8 2/3 innings in his pair of starts against the Yankees. On June 2, he gave up six runs and seven hits in just 2 1/3 innings of a 9-1 loss in the Bronx.
Ivan Nova (1-0, 2.89) will make his fourth start of the season for New York.
Nova is coming off the shakiest of his three starts thus far. He was pulled after 4 2/3 innings with the tying runs on base and the Yankees leading Toronto 5-3. Nova did not figure in the decision that day and he walked two and gave up six hits.
The rookie right-hander had been solid in his first two starts, allowing three runs and 11 hits in 11 innings with 10 strikeouts and just two walks.