O's fail to sweep New York, Yankees roll to 13-3 win
STATS: By Inning | Box | Matchup | O's Stats | Yankees Stats
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The Yankees hit three homers among their six extra-base hits and New York hammered the Orioles 13-3 Wednesday afternoon. The win kept the Orioles from recording their first three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium since 1986.
Bobby Abreu hit two homers and a double and knocked in three as New York improved to 9-3 since the All-Star break and 39-23 since May 21st.
All four O's pitchers used allowed runs. Dennis Sarfate took the loss in his first Major-League start giving up five runs in four innings. Brian Burres allowed four runs in 1 1/3 and Fernando Cabrera gave up three runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff had RBI singles for the Orioles and Juan Castro added a pinch-hit homer. The Orioles three-game win streak ends and they are now 6-8 since the All-Star break.
The Yankees scored four runs in the 7th to lead 13-2. The inning featured back to back solo homers off Fernando Cabrera by Abreu and Alex Rodriguez
The Yankees picked up four runs off Burres in the 6th to lead 9-2. Jason Giambi, Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon had RBIs in the inning and the 9th run scored on a wild pitch.
New York added to its lead with a two-run homer by Abreu in the third. That gave the Yankees a 5-2 edge.
The Orioles moved to within 3-2 of New York on a Markakis RBI single in the third inning. It scored Brandon Fahey who led off the frame with a base hit.
The Yankees scored three times in the last of the first on just one hit to lead 3-1. With one out, Sarfate issued back-to-back walks to Derek Jeter and Abreu. Rodriguez plated one run with a single and a second scored on a Markakis throwing error. Rodriguez would later score from third on a passed ball. It's the first time in this series the Yankees have had the lead.
The Orioles scored an unearned to lead 1-0 in the first inning. Brian Roberts led off and reached on Robinson Cano's error at second. Two outs later, Roberts scored on an Aubrey Huff single to left for the 1-0 edge. It's Huff's 8th RBI in this series and 72nd on the year.
The Orioles are off Thursday and open a three-game series at Seattle on Friday night.
Balt 3-6-1
NYY 13-11-1
Postgame Notes
Tough Day at the Office
Maybe when Nick Markakis air mailed that throw in the last of the first for a key error, we should have known. This wouldn't be the Orioles day. If they haven't swept the Yankees in New York since 1986, why start now. The Yankees only had 11 hits, even if it felt like 20. Orioles pitchers walked six and NY just one--that was a big key in this game. Even with the loss, the O's are still 7-5 vs. NY on the season, 4-2 at home and 3-3 on the road.
Sarfate's Start
In this start today, Sarfate gave up just 2 hits in 14 at bats for an average of .143. It's hard to give up five runs with those numbers, but each of the three walks he issued scored. And he was hurt by the rare Markakis miscue. Still, he has a power arm and is tough to hit; he fanned five Yankees. The control and walks will always be the key stat for him. We need to see him stay in the rotation for now.
Final Notes
Each team scored 23 runs in this series.........Aubrey Huff went 1-3 with an RBI single....He was 7-12 with 8 RBI in the series and is 18-37 with 3 homers and 11 RBI during a nine-game hitting streak.......Nick Markakis went 2-4 with an RBI and is batting .333 during a six-game hitting streak.....Brian Roberts went 1-4 and has just 8 hits his last 40 at bats......The last five spots in the O's batting order went 1-18 today......New York's 13 runs is the most by an O's opponent this year..........NY has won 9 of 12 and 14 of 20 games.........Fernando Cabrera, after pitching to an ERA of 1.46 his first 9 games, over his last two outings, covering 2 2/3 has given up six runs and four homers........the Orioles will end July at 10-16 for the month.......Garrett Olson (7-5, 5.90) will pitch vs. Jarrod Washburn (5-9, 4.50) Friday night at Seattle.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog
Huff Hit For
With the game out of hand, Juan Castro pinch-hit for Aubrey Huff in the 8th. In this series, Huff went 7-12 with two doubles, two homers and 8 RBI. Huff is now batting .486 during his nine-game hitting streak. Castro, by the way, hit a pinch homer to left.
Notes From Bowie
The Bowie Baysox host New Britain tonight at 7:05 with Chris Tillman (7-3, 3.44) on the mound. In last night's win, Matt Wieters went 4-5 with a homer and 5 RBI. Lou Montanez also went 4-5. Montanez has a 13-game hitting streak and is the Eastern League leader in RBI with 85, hits with 137, EBH's with 57, slugging percentage at .573 and runs with 80. Montanez is second in the league with 30 doubles and third in batting at .322. Plus, he is batting .480 this year vs. tonight's opponent, New Britain.
Burres Hit Hard
After lasting just 1 2/3 in his last start, Brian Burres pitched just 1 1/3 today out of the pen, giving up four runs. Everything he threw in the 6th was hit hard after he had pitched a 1-2-3, fifth inning. Over his last two games, Burres has allowed 11 hits and 9 earned runs in 3 innings. Is this the same guy who pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings vs. NY on April 19. That was a long time ago. Burres has gone from pitching himself out of the rotation to perhaps pitching himself off this team.
Ramirez Ejected
So I guess we know what the Yankees really thought when Cabrera hit A-Rod last night. They thought he was being thrown at. Joe Girardi said as much in his postgame comments. Edwar Ramirez started the top of the 7th by throwing one over Kevin Millar's head. He should have been and was ejected right then and there. You should wait until two outs and no one on base to do that, unless they were targeting Millar who has kicked their butt this year. Just another spicy O's-Yankees chapter.
Welcome Roch
I'd like to join the many others today who have welcomed Roch Kubatko to the MASN and MASNsports.com teams. Roch is a real talent, hard worker and on top of that, one of the real quality people who work in the Baltimore media. I certainly can't say that about everyone in town, but Roch has been a friend since I began working in Baltimore in 1997. Certainly Roch will make this website much better, and I look forward to joining forces with him to provide you some of the best coverage in town on the O's and the O's Minor Leagues.
I know we are getting new fans to the site now that Roch is here. I invite you to check the archives and some of our O's coverage from this entire year. You might be suprised at some of the things we've been doing. And it's only going to get bigger and better.
Trust Your Stuff, Dennis
If Dennis Sarfate ever starts cutting down on the walks, he can be really special. Thru four innings today, the Yankees are 2-14 at bat vs. Sarfate, but have a 5-2 lead. He's walked three and they've all scored. Without those walks he might be leading this game 2-1. He's also walked the top three batters in the order, Damon, Jeter and Abreu and no one else. It's like he gives the top hitters more credit or feels he has to be perfect vs. them. Thus he gets behind them and gives up walks or hits. When he just trusts his stuff, he's tough. Hitters five through nine in the lineup today are 0-9 against him.
Sarfate is relieved by Brian Burres to start the last of the fifth.
Sarfate's line: 4IP, 2H, 5R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K 1 HR.........68 pitches.
Huff among AL League Leaders
EBH's - 1st with 56
Total Bases - 3rd with 223
Doubles - 3rd with 32
Slugging - 4th at .556
Homers - 5th with 22
RBI - 5th with 71
Hits - 8th with 121
Draft Pick Signed
The Orioles have announced the signing of their 43rd round draft pick, RHP Oliver Drake of Navy. The 6-4, 21-year-old righty went 6-3, 3.70 with 78 strikeouts in 80 innings this past season for Navy. In his last four starts he was 2-0, 1.95 with 34 strikeouts and just one walk. The O's have now signed 31 of 50 draft picks.
NY Series Finale Underway
The third and final game in New York is underway. Check back often today here for news and updates. The last time the O's swept three in NY was on June 8, 1986 when they won 18-9 as Lee Lacy knocked in six runs.
Starting Lineups
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
CF Adam Jones
RF Nick Markakis
DH Aubrey Huff
3B Melvin Mora
LF Luke Scott
1B Kevin Millar
C Guillermo Quiroz
SS Brandon Fahey
P Dennis Sarfate
Yankees
LF Johnny Damon
SS Derek Jeter
DH Bobby Abreu
3B Alex Rodriguez
1B Jason Giambi
2B Robinson Cano
RF Xavier Nady
CF Melky Cabrera
C Jose Molina
P Joba Chamberlain
O's would be .500 since the All-Star break, 7-7, with a win today.......Yankees are 42-10 when they score first but they have not even had a lead yet in this series........Daniel Cabrera is 3-0 vs. Yankees after last night's win......The last O's pitcher to beat the Yankees 3 times in one season was Steve Stone in 1980 when he won the Cy Young award.......The Orioles have hit six homers in this series and 23 in 13 games since the break.......Kevin Millar has four homers his last five games and has six homers in 47 at bats this year vs. NY.
Game Preview
Orioles (51-55) at NY Yankees (58-48)
After scoring 20 runs in winning the first two games of a series at Yankee Stadium, the O's can complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees this afternoon.
A win this afternoon would be big news. The O's have not swept a three-game series at Yankee Stadium since June 6-8, 1986. They last swept three from New York in April of 2005, but that was at Camden Yards.
The Orioles have not swept a three-game series on the road this year. By taking the first two games, they have won the series. It's the Orioles first series victory in just over a month since they took 2 of 3 in late June on the road from the Cubs. Since then the O's had lost six series and tied two.
Aubrey Huff homered and knocked in four runs in Tuesday's win. In this series he is 6-9 with two homers and 7 RBI. Kevin Millar is 5-10 with two homers and 4 RBI.
The Orioles, who have scored 78 runs in 13 games since the All-Star break, have 29 hits in this series, 14 for extra-bases, with 6 homers. The Orioles today look for their fourth win in a row.
Since starting the second-half at 8-0, the Yankees have lost three straight, giving up 29 runs in those games. New York has still won 13 of 19 and is 38-23 since May 21st.
The Orioles are 7-4 vs. the Yankees in 2008 and 3-2 in New York. They have outscored New York 66-45 this season. The Birds are 4-1 in the last five between these teams.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Dennis Sarfate (4-1, 3.78) today makes his 46th appearance of the season, but will be making his first Major League start of this season and his career.
Sarfate is moving into the rotation spot vacated by Brian Burres, who will now work out of the O's bullpen.
Sarfate made 174 Minor League appearances, 107 as a starter, but this will be his first big league start in his 61st Major League appearance. Sarfate pitched 3 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings last Friday in Baltimore vs. the Angels. He threw 44 pitches.
In 50 innings this year, Sarfate has given up just 35 hits and only 3 homers. He has walked 39 and fanned 52. Sarfate pitched to an ERA of 2.19 in June and in July is 0-0, 5.93 ERA in 10 games.
The last time Sarfate made a number of starts was in 2006 at Triple-A Nashville. Then, in 21 starts, he was 7-6, 3.81.
This year right-handed batters hit just .232 off Sarfate and lefties hit only .162. In 24 road appearances, he is 2-1, 2.45.
The 27-year-old Sarfate has pitched well this season against the Yankees. In three games he has pitched 4 innings, giving up just one hit and no runs, with one walk and six strikeouts.
RHP Joba Chamberlain (3-3, 2.30) today makes his 31st appearance of the season, his 11th as a starter and his 5th appearance of the season vs. Baltimore.
Chamberlain moved into the Yankees rotation June 3rd, and in 10 starts since, he is 2-1, 2.30. His bullpen ERA was a very similar, 2.28. In his last two starts vs. Oakland and Boston Chamberlain pitched 13 innings, giving up just one run on nine hits with 17 strikeouts.
The 22-year-old, who was taken with the 41st pick of the 2006 draft, has pitched 78 1/3 on the season giving up just 63 hits with 34 walks and 93 strikeouts.
Chamberlain has given up 3 ER or less in each of his ten starts. Over his last three starts he has walked two and fanned 26 batters.
Right-handed batters hit just .207 off him while lefties bat .237, and he gives up an average of .203 when pitching with runners in scoring position. In 15 games at home, six as a starter, he is 1-1, 3.12. The Yankees are 7-3 in his starts in 2008.
Chamberlain has made four appearances, all in relief, against the O's in 2008, giving up 1 ER over 4 1/3 with four walks and 8 strikeouts. In 7 career appearances, none as a starter vs. Baltimore, he is 0-0, 1.50, allowing just 1 ER over 6 innings with 11 strikeouts.
Aubrey Huff's Hot Hitting
Tuesday's game: 4-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
This series: 6-9, 2 HR, 2 2B, 7 RBI
His last four games: 10-17, 3 HR's, 10 RBI
During 8-game hitting streak: 17-34 at bat, .500 average, 10 RBI
Since All-Star break: .415-4-12
This year vs. Yankees: .359-3-14 in 11 games (14-39 at bat)
In month of July: .388-8-25 (38-98 at bat)
His last 42 games: Batting .389-13-40 with 17 doubles
His batting average is up to .302. Huff is 10-17 over his last four games and now has 7 multi-hit games in his last 8 contests. He has now hit 22 homers, 7 more than he had all last year and his most since he hit 22 for Tampa in 2005.
Orioles starters, last three games
*ERA of 2.79 (19 1/3 IP, 18H, 6 ER)
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