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Surging Orioles look to hand Yankees another loss

May 21, 2008 - 1:03 PM Baltimore (24-20) at NY Yankees (20-25) 7:05 pm EDT

BRONX, New York (Ticker) - The Baltimore Orioles will once again look to take advantage of the struggling New York Yankees when the teams meet Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees got one star back Tuesday but lost another.

Alex Rodriguez came off the disabled list only to see his partner on the left side of the infield - captain Derek Jeter - leave the game in the third inning after getting hit in the hand with a pitch.

X-rays were negative and Jeter is listed as day-to-day.

"We'll look at how sore it is and how swollen it is (on Wednesday)," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he can't play, but I wouldn't be surprised if Derek Jeter finds a way to play. That's the type of player he is."

Rodriguez homered in the sixth inning, but the game had already been decided as the Orioles knocked starter Mike Mussina out with seven runs in the first inning. They tacked on two more in the second inning and another in the third en route to a 12-2 win.

In the top of the sixth, New York reliever LaTroy Hawkins threw over the head of Baltimore's Luke Scott, prompting an immediate ejection and a bench-clearing incident. Scott said after the game there was no doubt in his mind that Hawkins was retaliating for Jeter being hit earlier.

It was the eighth win in the last eight games for Baltimore, which swept a two-game series from American League East-leading Boston last week and took two out three from the Washington Nationals over the weekend.

New York has fallen on hard times, losing nine of 12 to fall into last place in the division. The pitching staff has been particularly terrible of late, allowing 35 runs over the last four games - all losses.

Darrell Rasner (2-0, 3.00 ERA) will attempt to stop the bleeding for the Yankees on Wednesday. The 27-year-old righthander has won his first two starts since being recalled from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowing two runs in six innings in each game.

Baltimore will counter with rookie Garrett Olson (3-0, 3.47). The lefthander has earned the win in each of his last two starts, despite not lasting six innings in either outing.

Olson has been able to limit the damage against him by allowing just one walk in his last two starts combined.