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A-Rod chase for 500 continues against Orioles

Jul 27, 2007 - 1:45 PM Ny Yankees (54-47) at Baltimore (47-53), 7:05 pm EDT

BALTIMORE (Ticker) - Alex Rodriguez will hope to give himself a birthday present Friday by becoming the youngest player in major-league history to reach the 500 home run mark when the New York Yankees face the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a three-game series.

After blasting No. 499 on Wednesday, Rodriguez was held hitless in Thursday's 7-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. The loss snapped the Yankees' six-game winning streak.

The 32-year-old Rodriguez is batting .309 with 35 homers and 102 RBI on the season and is considered the frontrunner to pick up his third Most Valuable Player award.

The Orioles will send Jeremy Guthrie (6-3, 2.88 ERA) to the mound, hoping to keep the Yankee superstar from reaching the milestone. The 28-year-old righthander pitched seven scoreless innings, yielding just two hits and three walks with six strikeouts, in a 2-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

New York will counter with Andy Pettitte (6-6, 4.12), who has not lost in his last four starts.

The 35-year-old Pettitte surrendered three runs and eight hits with a season-high eight strikeouts over six innings in Sunday's 21-4 rout of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Prior to the game, the teams will complete their June 28 game in which the Yankees lead 8-6 in the top of the eighth inning. New York scored four times in the top of the inning before the game was suspended due to rain. Baltimore had yet to receive its turn at bat.