Month-long AL East showdown begins tonight

As the division's top two teams begin a three-game series Friday, the Yankees are clinging to a three-game lead over the Orioles in the AL East. But that's not the whole story. The story is September will be a month of scoreboard watching for the Yankees, Orioles and Rays.

For starters, all 10 of the Yankees' next games are against the Orioles and Rays. After, for their remaining 22 games, 16 are against AL East teams, including three with the Rays and six with the Red Sox.

Overall, 81 percent of the Yankees remaining games are against AL East teams.

It's all the same for the rest of the division's schedule. The Rays and Orioles face off six more times this season, including the season's final three games. Oh by the way, the last three games of the season will also be the most meaningless Red Sox-Yankees games ever played in the rivalry.

So here's what the Yankees need to do to hang on to first place: get healthy and pitch well.

GET HEALTHY:

Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte are the major names needed back for the postseason, but their are others rehabbing, too.

If you haven't noticed, a guy named Pearce has hit in the middle of the Yankees' lineup the past couple of nights. His name is Steve Pearce, actually, and he began the year in New York's farm system before being traded to the Orioles, who cut him. If he is involved at all in the Yankees' postseason roster debate, the Bronx Bombers would likely be in trouble.

Anyway, the reason Pearce is in the lineup as a DH is because Nick Swisher is filling in at first for the injured Mark Teixeira. Teixeira is on the DL, as is starter Ivan Nova, who is likely primed for the postseason team -- most likely as a long reliever.

That decision will probably depend on Pettitte's status, which isn't great. He's still pitching off flat ground, and for those who don't know, a mound adds a lot more stress to a pitcher's delivery. At this rate, it's unlikely he'll be able to return quickly enough for even one tune-up start before the postseason. You hate to say it, but we're all thinking the same thing: They don't test for HGH during the season.

A-Rod, on the other hand, is looking pretty good. Expect him to return to the clean-up spot (sorry, Pearcey) in the next 10 days or so.

Also rehabbing and likely to return this month are relievers Pedro Feliciano (remember him?) and David Aardsma (oh, him).

A closer look at the AL wild card [Globe]

The Yankees are in a bit of a slide, but still have a 4.5-game lead over the Red Sox Rays Orioles in the AL East. It's pretty weird seeing the Orioles, not the Red Sox or Rays, in second place and playoff-bound this late in the year, isn't it?

I'm looking at you, Buck Showalter.

Since I work for the Boston Globe, and because some people around here still think the Sox can turn it around this year, I whipped up this primer on the AL wild card race. There are currently five teams within two games of a wild card spot, and the Red Sox are 5.5 games out.

After looking closely into this race, I am actually one of the few who think the Sox have a shot at making the postseason. Read all about it, and then feel free to state your case. Who are your two AL wild card predictions?

A-Rod misses out in Yankees’ rout

The Yankees had no problem taking the second and final game of the road series against the O’s. Alex Rodriguez was the only Yankee in the starting lineup without a hit.

Scoreboard Says:
Yankees 13, Orioles 2
Win: CC Sabathia
Loss: Brad Bergesen

No BBs for CC:
The Yankees ace left-hander struck out nine and walked none in an eight-inning gem. He improved to 16-2 lifetime against the O’s with the W.

Robinson Cano’s heroics end marathon in 15th, Hector Noesi dazzles in debut

I napped through four innings, but still got to see 11. The Yankees led 1-0 in the ninth, but Mariano Rivera blew it and it took six extra innings for a team to deliver with runners in scoring position. Believe me, both teams had their chances, but the Yankees prevailed. 

Scoreboard Says:
Yankees 4, Orioles 1
Win: Hector Noesi
Loss: Jeremy Accardo

Questionable Call:
Bartolo Colon threw eight sensational innings, but Joe Girardi removed him after just 87 pitches in favor of Mo.

Yankees-Orioles Series Preview

The Yankees look to start a winning streak tonight at Camden Yards following their six-game slide to the Royals, Red Sox and Rays.

On the Hill:
Wednesday: Bartolo Colon (2-2, 3.74) vs. Zach Britton (5-2, 2.42)
Thursday: CC Sabathia (3-3, 3.47) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (1-6, 3.98)

Yankees-Orioles series preview: Weather permitting

The Orioles got off to a hot start, but after hitting the 6-1 mark, they’ve tailed off to 8-10. This weekend they play host to the Yankees for just two games because yesterday’s game got postponed. Since 2000, the Yankees are 131-67 against the O’s.

On the Hill:
Saturday: CC Sabathia (0-1, 2.52) vs. Brad Bergesen (0-2, 3.38)
Sunday: Freddy Garcia (1-0, 1.29) vs. Jake Arrieta (2-1, 5.06)

Yankees rally from 5 down, beat O’s in 10

Nick Swisher hit a sac fly in the bottom of the 10th to complete a come-from-behind victory over the Orioles. The Yankees trailed 5-0 after 4-1/2 innings and then stormed back for six unanswered runs. 

Scoreboard Says:
Yankees 6, Orioles 5
Win: Mariano Rivera
Loss: Michael Gonzalez

Yankees keep homering at home, beat O’s

With two more homers at Yankee Stadium in tonight’s 7-4 win over the Orioles, the Yankees lead the majors in home runs at home. Both teams share a lead for the AL East lead at 6-4. Oh wait, it’s still April.

Scoreboard Says:
Yankees 7, Orioles 4
Win: A.J. Burnett
Loss: Chris Tillman
Save: Mariano Rivera

Orioles-Yankees Series Preview: Battle for 1st place

The Yankees start the series one game behind the Orioles in the AL East. The Orioles are one of the most surprising teams thus far, but not many expect them to contend with Boston and New York by September.

On the Hill:
Wednesday: Chris Tillman (0-0, 3.38) vs. A.J. Burnett (2-0, 4.09)
Thursday: Jake Arrieta (1-1, 8.68) vs. Phil Hughes (0-1, 16.50)

My preseason World Series picks will shock you, but they’re looking good right now

In an offseason that the best got better (Phillies, Red Sox), who would’ve picked the Rangers (6-0) and Reds (5-0) to make the World Series? That would be me, and neither team has lost through a week of play.

Meanwhile, the all-mighty Red Sox join the Rays and Astros as the only winless teams in baseball. [Full standings]

Perhaps I’m getting a bit too excited — OK, I am — but it’s still cool to see the Red Sox and Rays winless after a week.

Speaking of odd predictions looking good right now: one commenter said to watch out for the Orioles this year. The Orioles, really? Yeah, well they’re in first place and have looked great under Buck Showalter’s management.

Now it’s time to explain my surprising World Series picks.

A-Rod’s A-Bombs down O’s, 4-3

The Yankees couldn’t afford to lose the series opener against the Orioles. Baltimore closer Koji Uehara was one strike away from a 3-1 win, but with a quick turn of the hips Alex Rodriguez made it 4-3. Then Mo handled his business. I think you get the picture.

Best of All: The ninth-inning blast was A-Rod’s second of the game, giving him 25 for the year. He needs five more in the 15 remaining games to give him 13 consecutive years of 30 homers and 100 RBIs. Nobody’s ever done that before. Ever.

A.J. Burnett wasn’t bad A.J. I’ll take 7 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 6 K out of him any day of the week.

Worst of All: Mark Teixeira went 0-for-5 with a couple of K’s. That’s about it.

Coming Up: Game 2 is Saturday night featuring CC Sabathia in search of his 20th win of the year.

Yankees-Orioles series preview

The Yankees are currently in their worst stretch of the year. They’ve lost eight of their last 10, two of which coming against the team they play tonight, the Orioles.

This three-game series is the easiest part remaining on New York’s regular season schedule, but not by much. The Orioles have been a different team since ex-Yankee manager Buck Showalter came into power.

You probably aren’t going to believe this, but the Orioles have won 63.4 percent of the 41 games they’ve played under Showalter’s management. The O’s are still in last place by a longshot, but who knows how far out they’d be if it weren’t for Showalter.

Head to Head:
The Yankees are 12-4 against the Orioles this season, and this series is their final meeting.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Yankees starters	Orioles starters
Fri., 7:05 p.m.	A.J. Burnett (10-13, 5.13)	K. Milwood (3-15, 5.30)
Sat., 7:05 p.m.	CC Sabathia (19-6, 3.03)	J. Guthrie (10-13, 3.74)
Sun., 1:35 p.m.	A. Pettitte (11-2, 2.88)	Chris Tillman (1-4, 6.32)

Roster Notes: Brett Gardner is back in the lineup, Nick Swisher is out and Romulo Sanchez was called up.

Prediction:
The Yankees have their rotation setup for a sweep, and I think they’ll get it done. Saturday and Sunday will be very exciting, as Sabathia vies for his 20th win and Pettitte returns for his first start since July 18.

Swisher says, ‘It’s pie time!’

I think it’s safe to say the reason why MLB.com wasn’t able to provide the box score right after the game was because Nick Swisher pied it.

Yes, Swisher was pied today. He hit a two-run, walk-off blast in the ninth to lead the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Orioles. Baltimore was just two outs shy of sweeping New York.

Best of All: Ivan Nova pitched well enough for a win, but didn’t get the run support: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.

The bullpen did a really nice job of holding the Orioles to two runs. A lot of times in the past we’ve scene the bullpen allow one extra insurance run late and that comes back to haunt the Yankees. Today, that didn’t happen and Swisher made the bullpen look like champs.

Worst of All: It would’ve been awful if the Orioles had swept the Yankees at home. It hasn’t happened since 1986.

The Yanks only had four hits and six base runners off Brad Bergesen. Really?

Coming Up: Three runs won’t be enough this weekend, as the Yankees head down to Texas for a three-game series.

A-Rod homers, O’s beat Yanks, 4-3

Alex Rodriguez homered in his second game back from the disabled list, but the Yankees fell to the Orioles, 4-3, on Labor Day.

Best of All: A.J. Burnett wasn’t awful. But he wasn’t great either: 7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. It’s enough to keep him in the rotation in September, but it’s not helping his chances for making the playoff rotation.

Worst of All: The Yankees only had five hits off the Orioles, none of which off their bullpen. That is a terrible against one of the worst bullpens in the league.

Coming Up: CC Sabathia goes for win No. 20 tomorrow night. His career-high is 19. Speaking of CC, Cliff Corcoran (also CC) believes big CC is the frontrunner for the Cy. You might have to read that again.

Orioles-Yankees series preview

The Orioles are in town for a three-game series against the Yankees this week, starting in about 15 minutes.

Before the season started, I’ll admit that I thought the Orioles would come out of the gates strong. Boy was I wrong. I think they’ve been in last place just about every day this season.

The Yankees are 86-51 and the Orioles are 51-86. Need I say more?

Head to Head:
The Yankees have had a great year against the O’s, going 10-2 against them in a span of about six weeks in the beginning of the season. After this series, the Yankees head to Baltimore next weekend for their final meeting.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Orioles starters	Yankees starters
Mon., 1:05 p.m.	Brian Matusz (7-12, 4.72)	A.J. Burnett (10-12, 5.15)
Tues, 7:05 p.m.	Jake Arrieta (4-6, 5.11)	CC Sabathia (19-5, 3.02)
Wed., 1:05 p.m.	B. Bergesen (6-10, 5.47)	Ivan Nova (1-0, 2.89)

Lineup Notes: Nick Swisher is finally back in the lineup after being a late scratch two games in a row.

Prediction:
I predict a sweep. If Burnett can’t figure it out against the Orioles, what are the Yankees going to do with him?

FanHouse: Yankees interested in Wigginton

Adam Dunn wasn’t the only potential trade target to be linked to the Yankees today. Orioles infielder Ty Wigginton, the team’s most productive player this year, is on the market and the Yankees reportedly ‘have some interest.’

Unfortunately for the Orioles, it seems Wigginton has put his best months of the year behind him. He followed up a great April and May with an awful June. Through 48 games, he had 13 homers and 32 RBIs with a .288/.369/.565 hitting line. In June, he’s hit one homer, drove in 10 runs and batted to the screeching tune of .209/.303/.291.

Still, he has great versatility and would be dramatic improvement over any of the other current bench options for the Yankees. He’s also priced at just $3.5 million in the final year of his contract.

A-Rod leaves with groin injury in loss to O’s

Alex Rodriguez left before his first at-bat with what was later determined as a sore groin, and the Yankees fell to the Orioles 4-3 in the series finale.

Best of all: Chan Ho Park. He’s allowed just one run in his last six innings after a two-strikeout, one-inning performance tonight to give the Yankees a chance at a comeback. No Yankees had multi-hit games and A.J. Burnett allowed four runs over 6 2/3 innings.

Worst of all: The injury to A-Rod has to be the biggest concern. Chad Jennings’s report said he may have to miss a few days. The other bad part of this game was Jorge Posada. An 0-for-4 night made him 3-for-27 in June. Yikes.

Coming up: The Yankees get to face the Astros this weekend in the Bronx as interleague play starts back up.

CC owns Orioles, no one else. Problem?

A tweet from a Yankees beat last night mentioned how good CC Sabathia has been against the Orioles this season. And how bad he’s been against everyone else.

The 6-foot-7, 290-pounder is 4-0 with a 2.73 ERA against Baltimore and 2-3 with a 4.69 ERA against everyone else. That looks really bad, considering the Orioles are the worst team in baseball. Should we be worried about the ace? I don’t think so. He has plenty of excuses.

• He’s had a tough schedule. Three starts against Boston, and one vs. the Rays, Tigers and Mets. That leaves three starts against mediocre teams. It’s still early, people.
  
• It’s been raining. I don’t have the numbers, but it has rained for many of Sabathia’s starts. Rain is no fun to pitch in. CC’s from California; he likes hot weather.
  
• Eight of his 13 starts have come on the road. He’s still perfect at home, folks (3-0, 2.91), it’s just the road starts that have killed him.

Some counterpoints…

• He needs to lose weight. Sure, he’s overweight, but he has been his entire career and he’s done just fine.
  
• He’s making $23 million. Yeah, he’s overpaid, but everything’s expensive in New York (so I’ve learned).
  
• He needs to get his mechanics right. This I have no counter for. The Yankees have said that was hurting him earlier this year, I haven’t seen problems at all. If this is his problem, Dave Eiland needs to come back (when he’s done taking care of whatever he’s taking care of) and get him right.

Bottom line: It’s good news the only starter off his game right now is the ace because he has the best chance of turning it around.

Yanks take 10th consecutive win over O’s

The Yankees won their 10th consecutive game against the Orioles this season with help from the O’s defense. The Yankees took advantage of three errors to score two unearned runs, which proved to be the difference in a 4-2 win.

Best of all: Robinson Cano went 3-for-4 with a run, an RBI and an intentional walk. He also saved the tying run from scoring in the seventh with a great stop in the hole.

CC Sabathia tossed seven innings and ended his night by striking out Luke Scott with the bases loaded. He’s now 6-3 with a 4.01 ERA this season — four of this wins against the O’s.

Worst of all: Jorge Posada went 0-for-2 and is 3-for-23 since returning from the DL. He did start catching drills yesterday so we could see him back behind the plate by the weekend.

Coming up: The Yankees go for 11 a row and the sweep against Baltimore Thursday night.

Swish, Tex and Grandy go bananas in win

Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson combined to go 8-for-15 with three homers, 11 RBIs and six runs scored in a 12-7 win over the Orioles.

Best of all: Teixeira. He got on base five times with a two-run shot. He needed that. Granderson hit a grand slam. Swisher hit a two-run homer and a bases-clearing double. Phil Hughes earned his eighth win, but in one of his worst outings of the year (still, a quality start).

Worst of all: Chad Gaudin. He allowed four runs on five hits in the final two innings. That’s not ideal for the last guy in the bullpen.

Coming up: Game 2 of the series is Wednesday night.

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Special shout-out to Stephen Strasburg. Fourteen strikeouts in his debut! That’s sending a message to Ubaldo Jimenez saying: You’ve got company!