Yanks vs. Orioles Preview
By Joe Davis
Yankees at Baltimore June 22-24: Series Preview
The Yankees will open a three game series tonight versus the Baltimore Orioles. Mike Mussina will make his first start since he injured his groin on June 11th. Mussina is 7-3 against his former team since he joined the Yankees in 2001. He is 4-1 versus the Orioles in Camden Yards.
The series match ups are:
Mike Mussina (7-3) 4.43 ERA vs Matt Riley (1-2) 7.11 ERA- 7:05 EST June 22nd
Jon Lieber (5-4) 4.83 ERA vs Erik Bedard (1-2) 4.33 ERA- 7:05 EST June 23rd
Javier Vázquez (7-5) 3.43 ERA vs Sidney Ponson (3-9) 6.49 ERA- 7:05 June 24th
Watch out for Sidney Ponson on June 24th. When he has a good day, he can shut down his opponents. In the 3 starts in which he won, 2 have been complete games and he allowed only 2 runs during those 3 games.
The first time the Yankees played the Orioles this season, it was batting practice for them. The Yankees outscored the Orioles 41-17. In the second series, it was closer but the Yankees still prevailed - sweeping the Orioles for the second time of the year. Baltimore will try to bounce back tonight and regain 4th place ahead of Toronto. Manager Lee Mazilli still wants to prove himself to his former teammate and paesan, Joe Torre.
Game notes: Orioles acquired P Jason Grimsley from the Royals last night as they traded away Denny Bautista. This is the 5th major league team Jason Grimsley has spent time with. Grimsley was a Yankee from 1999-2000. Grimsley went 10-4 in 118 games with them.
