Uh O

The Yankees open a 3 game series tonight with the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles that allowed 30 runs in 1 game to the Texas Rangers. The Orioles that bullpen has imploded in the 2nd half. The Orioles that are 64-84, 2 million games out of 1st place. And alas, the same Orioles that won 4, count 'em 4, best 2 of 3 series from the Yankees this season.

The good news is that the Orioles ace, Erik Bedard, will miss this one with a badly strained oblique. The bad news is that we have to watch Mike Mussina on the mound again tomorrow.

Here are the pitching probables for the series:

Monday - Daniel Cabrera (9-16, 5.37) vs. Phil Hughes (3-3, 4.91)
Cabrera did his best Armando Benetiz imitation recently, pissing off his manager and teammates. Hughes has posted back-to-back solid outings and the Yankees need to get this series off on the right foot.

Tuesday - Jon Leicester (2-1, 6.32) vs. Mike Mussina (9-10, 5.28)
Leicester has never faced the Yankees and we've seen how those games go. Mussina needs to build off his last start or pitch poor enough so that Torre is never tempted to put him in again.

Wednesday - Brian Burres (6-5, 5.47) vs Andy Pettitte (13-8, 3.89)
Burres is 1-0, 2.53 in 5 appearances (1 start) against the Yankees. Pettitte will be looking for career victory #200.

Here are the lineups for tonight's game. Doug Mientkiewicz gets rewarded for his stellar 2-way play last night.

Orioles

B. Roberts 2b
T. Redman cf
N. Markakis rf
M. Tejada ss
K. Millar 1b
A. Huff dh
M. Mora 3b
L. Hernandez c
J. Payton lf

Yankees
J. Damon cf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui lf
J. Posada c
J. Giambi dh
R. Cano 2b
D. Mientkiewicz1b

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