Yankees beat Orioles, 7-3, in Yankee Stadium finale
Johnny Damon hit a three-run homer, Jose Molina added a two-run shot and Mariano Rivera got the honor of getting the last out as the Yankees beat the Orioles, 7-3 Sunday night. New York won its final game at Yankee Stadium and completed a three-game sweep of the O's.
New York completed an 8-2 homestand with the victory. They finish their home season with a record of 48-33 and end the 85-year run at Yankee Stadium with a final regular season mark there of 4,133--2,430--17.
The O's, who have scored a total of seven runs the past four games, have now lost five in a row. The Birds have lost 17 of 21 games and their final road record will be 31-50.
Andy Pettitte, 14-14, got the win. Chris Waters, 3-4, took the loss, giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
New York extended its lead to 7-3 in the 7th with the help of a popup the O's let drop and an error by shortstop Brandon Fahey. Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano had RBI's in the inning.
Molina hit a two-run homer in the New York 4th to break a 3-3 tie. His 3rd of the year made it a 5-3 Yankees' lead.
Damon's three-run homer in the third gave New York a 3-2 lead. His 16th scored Hideki Matsui and Molina, who had singled. A Brian Roberts' RBI single in the fourth tied the game, 3-3.
The O's took a 2-0 lead in the third. Roberts led off and reached on Andy Pettitte's error, then stole second. He scored on Melvin Mora's single, which was his 102nd RBI.
The O's took a 1-0 lead in the second. Adam Jones tripled with one out. He later scored on Jay Payton's RBI groundout for the 1-0 edge.
Balt 3-7-1
NYY 7-9-1
Postgame Notes
Andy Pettitte picked up his 14th win of this season and the 25th of his career vs. the Orioles.....This year he is 3-0, 1.93 vs. the Birds and in his career is 25-6, 3.73....This from a pitcher who was 0-5, 6.91 in his previous five starts.....The O's didn't hit the Yankee bullpen all weekend.....Their pen combined for 11 shutout innings in the series, giving up just 3 hits with 11 strikeouts.
The O's have now lost five in a row by 8 total runs......They finish with a road record of 31-50.....The O's end the season with a record of 7-11 vs. the Yankees....They lost the last seven games vs. New York and were swept in back-to-back series by NY for the first time since September of 2005.....The O's have lost the season series vs. the Yankees for 23 times in the last 26 seasons.
Brian Roberts went 1-5 with an RBI and is batting .349 over his last 11 games.....Oscar Salazar's seven-game batting streak is intact after he drew a walk as a pinch-hitter in the 6th....Kevin Millar went 1-3 but is just 2-24 at bat over eight games.......Aubrey Huff went hitless and is 2-16 at bat.......Adam Jones went 2-4 with a triple and run and is 4-11 during a three-game batting streak.
The O's begin the season's final homestand Monday night at 7:05 hosting Tampa Bay. The Rays magic number is 6 to clinch the AL East championship.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog
Derek Jeter Has Sore Hand
I know this because Joe Morgan has now mentioned it ten times tonight. Thanks, Joe, great commentary.
Two Gift Runs
With a 7-3 lead and the way the O's have struggled vs. the Yankees pen this weekend, that should be enough runs to win. The O's handed them the last two, as Brandon Fahey let a pop drop in shallow left that looked like an easy out and a run scored on the play. His booted a grounder later in the inning leading to another run.
Seen It Before
For O's pitching tonight some familiar story lines. While they didn't give up a first inning run, Chris Waters did walk four and gave up key hits to the number nine hitter. Jose Molina is 3-3 tonight and went 2-3 with a two-run homer vs. Waters. Getting beat by the bottom of the order has happened far too much to the O's in 2008.
Waters line tonight: 5 2/3IP, 6H, 5R-ER, 4BB, 2K, 2 HR.....101 pitches
Yankee Lineup, First Game-Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923
CF Whitey Witt
3B Joe Dugan
RF Babe Ruth
1B Wally Pipp
LF Bob Meusel
C Wally Schange
2B Aaron Ward
SS Everett Scott
P Bob Shawkey.....That day the final was NYY 4 Boston 1.
O's Best & Worst Hitters, 2008 vs. NYY:
Payton: .423-0-2 (11-26)
Huff: .355-4-20 (22-62)
Hernandez: .354-3-7 (17-48)
Millar: .333-6-10 (21-63)
Scott: .153-2-4 (9-59)
Castro: .150-1-3 (3-20)
Quiroz: .071-0-0 (1-14)
Tragic Number
For the Yankees is one. Boston beat Toronto this afternoon, reducing the number to one for New York to be eliminated from the playoffs officially this year. A loss tonight would make it final. They have made 13 straight post-season appearances.
Orioles All-Time Leaders, Yankee Stadium
Batting Average - .344, Rafael Palmeiro
Homers - 21, Boog Powell
RBI - 64, Brooks Robinson
Hits - 152, Brooks Robinson
Runs - 63, Cal Ripken
Games - 151, Brooks Robinson
Wins - 16, Jim Palmer
Complete Games - 10, Jim Palmer
Strikeouts - 86, Mike Flanagan
ERA - 2.32, Steve Barber
The O's Role
Oh and by the way, there is another team here tonight, the Baltimore Orioles. I guess the O's are supposed to play the role of the Washington Generals tonight and roll over for the Globe--I mean the Yankees. Hopefully they won't. After all what happens in this game will not be what is remembered years from now. Did it tarnish the Memorial Stadium final day at all that the O's lost that game. No. What we remember is the special ceremony, and all the players running on the field to their positions at game's end. It could not have been done any better and no O's fan will ever forget it.
Game Time
The first pitch of the last game at Yankee Stadium has been thrown. Tonight's series and Stadium finale is underway. It's also the O's final road game of 2008.
Starting Lineups (O's career stats vs. Pettitte)
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts (12-47, HR, 2 RBI)
RF Nick Markakis (7-21, HR, RBI)
3B Melvin Mora (9-29, HR, 6 RBI)
DH Aubrey Huff (4-26)
C Ramon Hernandez (7-24, HR, 6 RBI)
CF Adam Jones (2-6)
1B Kevin Millar (8-31, RBI)
LF Jay Payton (7-33, HR, 2 RBI)
SS Juan Castro (0-3)
P Chris Waters
Yankees
CF Johnny Damon
SS Derek Jeter
RF Bobby Abreu
3B Alex Rodriguez
1B Jason Giambi
LF Xavier Nady
2B Robinson Cano
DH Hideki Matsui
C Jose Molina
P Andy Pettitte
The Orioles first game ever at Yankee Stadium was on May 5, 1954. They lost 4-2. The O's all-time record there is 190-240-1 and it is 3-5 there this year. The O's are 17-31 in series finales while New York is 32-20.
Game Preview
Orioles (67-86) at NY Yankees (84-71)
After losing on Friday and Saturday, the O's look to salvage a win in their series in New York as tonight the teams will meet in the final game ever played at Yankee Stadium.
The O's are 3-5 there this year after losing 3-2 Friday and 1-0 Saturday afternoon. The O's have lost four in a row, all by one run and the Birds have lost 19 of their last 21 one-run decisions.
The Orioles have scored two runs or less in 4 of 5 and 10 of the last 16 games. They have six hits or less 9 times in the last 15 contests.
The Yankees are expected to have pregame and postgame ceremonies as they get set to play their 6,580th and last regular-season game at Yankee Stadium. They are 4,132--2,430--17 all time there for a .630 win percentage.
The Yankees have won 7 of 8 games and are 47-33 at home on the season. They are 20-13 over the last 33 contests.
Brian Roberts hit a team-record 51st double on Saturday and is batting .368 over his last ten games. Oscar Salazar is batting .391 during a seven-game hitting streak.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Chris Waters (3-3, 4.75) tonight will make his 10th start of the season, his 5th on the road and the first of his career vs. New York.
Waters pitched a four-hit shutout Tuesday at Toronto in his last outing. He walked two and fanned three, throwing 106 pitches. Only one runner reached second base in that dominant outing and Waters got the leadoff batter out in eight of nine innings.
That was the O's 4th shutout of the season but first complete-game effort. Waters became the first O's hurler to do that since Erik Bedard vs. Texas on July 7, 2007.
Right-handed batters hit .250 off Waters and lefties bat .313. In four road starts, he is 2-0, 2.42. The Orioles are 4-5 when Waters starts this season.
LHP Andy Pettitte (13-14, 4.57) tonight gets the honor of making the last start in Yankee Stadium. It will be his 33rd start of this season, his 17th at home and his 3rd on the year vs. the Orioles.
Pettitte has been struggling more and more as the season goes on. Over the last five starts, he is 0-5, 6.91. The Yankees are 14-18 when he starts, but are just 1-9 in Pettitte's past ten starts.
Pettitte first-half: 10-7, 4.03, 20 starts
Pettitte second-half: 3-7, 5.47, 12 starts
Pettitte, an AL All-Star in 1996 and 2001, gives up a batting average of just .204 vs left-handed batters, but it's .324 vs. righty hitters. He's also allowed 16 of his 19 homers vs. right-handed hitters. He allows an average of .340 when pitching with runners in scoring position.
In 16 home starts in 2008, the lefty is 8-6, 3.78.
In his career Pettitte is 214-127, 3.89 in 425 starts.
Pettitte vs. the O's:
2008: 2-0, 1.32, two starts (2ER - 13 2/3 IP)
2007: 2-1, 4.55, five games, four starts
Career: 24-6, 3.73, 36 games, 34 starts, 217 innings
Career, Yankee Stadium: 94-42, 3.70, 166 starts
O's Hitters - Career Numbers at Yankee Stadium:
Castro: .286-1-2 (4-14)
Cintron: .421-0-1 (8-19)
Hernandez: .301-6-12 (40-133)
Huff: .301-6-42 (58-193)
Jones: .279-1-9 (12-43)
Markakis: .297-3-15 (30-101)
Millar: .298-9-23 (57-191)
Montanez: .250-0-1 (1-4)
Mora: .253-4-24 (61-241)
Quiroz: .083-0-0 (1-12)
Payton: .303-3-13 (27-89)
Roberts: .270-5-23 (58-215)
Salazar: .600-0-0 (3-5)
Scott: .097-1-2 (3-31)
Fahey shouldn't even be on this team. Now that he blew 2 plays in a row I hope that ensures he is not brought back next year.
Wow. Brandon Fahey's defense is abysmal. It could not be more apparent. He was already booting balls and throwing balls to first in the dirt before he was sent down and then brought back up... How much longer can we have his glove and non thunder bat in our lineup??? Do you think he still has a spot on our team next season???