• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Yanks hope to stay on winning track vs. Orioles

May 19, 2011 - 2:37 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Yankees try to make it three wins in a row this evening when they wrap up a two-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Yankees wasted a magnificent effort from Bartolo Colon in Wednesday's opener, but Robinson Cano's two-run double in the 15th inning helped the Yanks pull out a wild 4-1 win.

The game was a carnival of oddities, including Baltimore's Brandon Snyder being hit by a ground ball on the basepath.

And that was after the Yankees' Chris Dickerson was hit in the helmet by a Mike Gonzalez fastball, pitcher A.J. Burnett entered as a pinch-runner, Baltimore's Felix Pie came up just feet short of a game-winning homer, and Mariano Rivera blew a save following Colon's near shutout.

But Cano's hit saved the Yankees, whose two straight wins have come on the heels of a six-game slide.

"Both teams battled," said Orioles starter Zach Britton. "We had opportunities and couldn't cash in, they had opportunities and couldn't cash in. It was just going back and forth."

Colon was terrific, as he scattered three hits and struck out seven with a walk in eight scoreless innings and needed just 87 pitches to do so. Yankee manager Joe Girardi, however, opted to turn the game over in the ninth to Rivera, who allowed the Orioles to tie the game.

"Of course there's a thought to leave him in there, but I have Mariano Rivera," Girardi said. "That's why I made the move. I wanted someone that was fresh, and it didn't work out. Bartolo was outstanding."

Hector Noesi (1-0) eventually picked up the win after throwing four innings of relief in his first big league appearance.

"This is a guy that was just watching everybody pitching," said Cano, who has hit safely in his last 16 games at Camden Yards. "Your first game, tied game? It's really tough to be in a game like that. That guy, he can pitch. I was real impressed."

Jeremy Accardo (2-1) was charged with the loss, the Orioles' second straight.

It doesn't get any easier for Baltimore this evening, as they face left-hander CC Sabathia, who has dominated it in recent years, especially at Camden Yards, where he is 9-1 with a 3.01 ERA. The big left-hander beat the Orioles for the sixth straight time and for the 10th time in 11 starts on April 23, allowing three runs and six hits in eight innings. He is 15-2 lifetime against them with a 2.89 ERA in 21 starts.

Sabathia, though, has struggled of late and lost for the second time in three starts on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox, who hit him for six runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, dropping him to 3-3 on the year to go along with a 3.47 ERA.

Last year through 11 starts Sabathia was 4-3 with a 4.16 ERA, but went on to win 14 of his next 16 decisions.

In keeping with the absurdity of the opener, the Orioles were forced to throw Jeremy Guthrie for an inning. Guthrie, though, was slated to start tonight, and still may if he has any say.

"I am going to talk to Buck," Guthrie said. "I told him I saved everything I had through limited warm-up pitches. I just tried to work down in the zone quick. I'm ready to go [Thursday], so we'll see. I have to go talk to him first."

Manager Buck Showalter will likely opt to use righty Brad Bergesen, who would be going on full rest after throwing his first career shutout his last time out. Bergesen scattered four hits to beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, as he improved to 1-4 on the year with a 4.35 ERA.

"Bergy's got four days' rest tomorrow," Showalter said. "He could potentially start [Thursday]. We had Jeremy down there before the inning started anyway."

Bergesen, though, is 0-3 lifetime with a 6.65 ERA in five games (four starts) against the Yankees and was hammered for them for six runs in six innings back in that April 23 affair.

The Yankees have won all five of their meetings with the Orioles this season.