Yanks Take Advantage Of O's Mistakes, Win 4-2

WP: C. Sabathia (6-3) LP: C. Tillman (0-2)
SV: M. Rivera (14)

The Yankees made it ten in a row over the Orioles with their 4-2 win last night at Camden Yards. They didn't play nearly their best ball, but the O's kicked the ball all over the field and found a way to lose.

CC Sabathia had a start much like Phil Hughes ' on Tuesday. He wasn't at his best, but he was good enough. CC held Baltimore to two runs on nine hits, walked three, and struck out eight over seven innings.

The Yankees actually trailed 2-0 in this game after CC gave up individual runs in the 2nd and 3rd. After the third, the Yankees left-hander cruised through the middle innings, but once again found himself in some trouble in the seventh.

While Sabathia was mowing through the Orioles hitters through the middle innings, the Yankees would take the lead thanks to several defense blunders by the O's.

After Robinson Cano led off the started the fourth with a single, O's starter Chris Tillman threw a pickoff attempt away, allowing Cano to move to second. Jorge Posada then moved him to third with a groundout, and Curtis Granderson brought him home with a sac fly.

The O's would continue to embarrass themselves in the sixth. Mark Teixeira led off the inning hitting a weak grounder to second that Julio Lugo booted. It was scored a single for some reason, but don't be fooled, it was an error. A-Rod then singled on a ball off the glove of a diving Luke Scott to put runners on the corners for Cano.

It was another big game for Robbie, who made a great play in the field and went 3-for-4 to raise his average to a MLB-best .376. His biggest of the three hits came after A-Rod's single, a chopper over first to tie the game at two.

The Yanks then took the lead on a force out hit by Posada. It should have been a 3-6-3 doubleplay, but Izturis' return throw to Ty Wigginton ended up in the first row.

With the Yankees now leading 3-2, Cesar Izturis led off the bottom of the seventh with a bunt single, and then moved to second on Julio Lugo 's sac bunt. Following a Miguel Tejada groundout, Nick Markakis reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners with two out.

CC then walked Ty Wigginton to load the bases for Luke Scott . Scott got ahead on the count 1-0, but CC came back with two strikes, and then a got him swinging on a slider away for the third.

The Yankees gave themselves a little insurance with their fourth run in the eighth. Posada walked with one out and then was pinch-ran for by Brett Gardner . With two out an Francisco Cervelli at the plate, Gardner would steal his 21st base of the season to put himself in scoring position.

A few pitches later Cervelli lined a single to center to drive in Gardner and make it 4-2 Yankees. Cervelli is now hitting .441 with RISP this season.
Joba Chamberlain came in for the eighth and held the O's scoreless, although he was hit hard in the process. Adam Jones led off hitting a rocket to left, but Kevin Russo ranged over to make a fantastic diving catch.

Then, following a booming double by Matt Wieters , Joba settled down, struck out Corey Patterson , and retired Scott Moore on a ground out to second to get out of the inning.

Mariano Rivera came in for the ninth, and needed just 11 pitches to rack up his 14th save of the season.

It was by no means a good win for the Yankees, who went 2-for-13 with RISP and left 11 men on base. But those are the mistakes you can make against a team as bad as the Orioles.

The Yankees go for the sweep tomorrow with A.J. Burnett on the mound. 24-year-old right-hander Jake Arrieta will be making his big league debut for the O's. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be o YES.

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