| Gwendolyn A. Burrell. 22nd May, 2008 - 5:01 pm
 The Orioles scored seven runs and forced Yankees’ pitcher Mike Mussina to the bench, and it was only the first inning. Things for the Yanks never improved, and the Orioles (24-20) flew to a 12-2 victory.
Mussina matched the shortest start of his career getting only two outs against his former team before going to the bench. Prior to last night’s game, Mussina had won five starts in a row. "I never got my level of comfort, and it was just bad," he said. "This is the same place we were a year ago. It feels a lot worse than that."
Baltimore capitalized on Yankee errors, including a two-out throwing error by Derek Jeter that could have ended the inning. Instead, the Orioles went on to score again and again. Aubrey Huff and Freddie Bynum had RBI singles, and Brian Roberts came strong with an RBI triple. Johnny Damon, Yankee's left fielder, dropped a fly ball with two outs in the second. That error led to two more unearned runs for the Orioles.
Baltimore’s Adam Jones also contributed to the victory with a three-run double. Kevin Millar and Luke Scott were both good for homers.
The Orioles were up 9-0 by the time Alex Rodriguez came to bat. A-Rod was returning after a three-week absence due to a strained right quadriceps. He started at third base and batted cleanup. Rodriguez performed well, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth bringing the score 10-2. Unfortunately, Yankees would not score again.
Baltimore and New York face off tonight in game two of the three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Garrett Olson will start on the mound in his fifth start since being called up from Triple-A Norfolk on April 29. Darrell Rasner will start for the Yankees. |
