Orioles aim for rare sweep of Yanks in the Bronx

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have been the worst team in the American League all season. Today, though, the Orioles will have a chance to do something against the best team in baseball that they haven't done in more than 24 years, as they try and complete a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles, who have won in just four of their previous 21 visits to the Bronx, last swept the Yankees in a three-game series there back in June of 1986. Baltimore has taken the first two games of this set, including a rare win over CC Sabathia on Tuesday. Nolan Reimold hit a two-run home run and Adam Jones had a key two-run single to back the solid pitching of Jake Arrieta in the Orioles' 6-2 triumph.

Nick Markakis and Ty Wigginton each had a pair of hits, scored once and drove in a run for the Birds, who have won four straight over Tampa Bay and New York, the top two teams in the AL East.

Baltimore is 21-13 since Buck Showalter took over the club in August and hasn't won five in a row since June 17-21, 2009, all against interleague opponents.

Arrieta (5-6) earned the win after holding the hosts to two runs on eight hits while walking only one and striking out three for Baltimore.

"The opportunities don't come around that often. Everybody is watching and as an athlete you want to be on center stage and perform well while you're there," Arrieta said when asked about the team's recent success against potentially playoff bound teams."

Sabathia (19-6), meanwhile, was charged with six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings to suffer his first loss at home since July 2, 2009 for the Yankees, who saw their lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games in the AL East over Tampa Bay, which defeated Boston at Fenway Park.

"They were just aggressive, swinging early and it took my aggressiveness away," said Sabathia, who also lost for the first time in nine starts to the O's. "We tried to mix it up early in the count but I wasn't able to get my secondary pitches over for strikes. They got some balls to hit and didn't miss them."

Hoping to get the Yankees off the schneid this afternoon will be right-handed rookie Ivan Nova, who is 1-0 in his four starts with a 2.89 earned run average. Nova made his Yankee Stadium debut on Friday against Toronto, but did not get a decision as he allowed three runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings of his team's 7-3 win.

Nova, who will be facing the O's for the first time, has yet to get out of the sixth inning in any of his starts, but New York's bullpen has been terrific of late. Since July 26 Yankee relievers have pitched to a 1.54 ERA and have allowed only one run in the club's last seven games, a span of 20 1/3 innings.

Baltimore will counter with right-hander Brad Bergesen, who has allowed three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts and has worked at least seven innings in five of those outings. However, he was charged with the loss on Thursday against Boston, which reached him for five runs (two earned) and eight hits in 5 1/3 frames, dropping him to 6-10 to go along with a 5.47 ERA.

Bergesen lost to the Yankees back on June 2 when he could not get out of the third inning and is 0-2 in two starts against them with a 10.38 ERA.

New York has won 10 of its 14 matchups with the O's this season.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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