MVN - Most Valuable Network

Facing the Evil Empire…

Folks, we face the Yankees up in the Bronx tonight, Wednesday and Thursday. Honestly, who would have thought before the season that on May 20th, the Orioles would be at 23-20, while the Evil Empire would be at the bottom of the American League standings?

The Orioles had a nice little homestand, winning four out of five; meanwhile, the Yankees had their hands full with the Mets, as they were swept in two straight games.

We here in the mid-Atlantic region are giddy; the New Yorkers up there are wondering what in the world is going on?

Like I said yesterday, the next two weeks will tell a lot about the Orioles. Baltimore has been winning by excellent starting pitching, timely hitting and a “us-against-the-world” mentality. The Yankees have suffered through injuries, aging talent and lackluster pitching — especially, on part of ther youngsters.

There was a time where the Orioles would serve as a doormat for the Yankees — however, this series might be a test for both teams. The Bronx may be an intimidating place to play, but right now the pendulum is swinging in Baltimore’s way.

Can it continue?

Matchups:

Tonight: Daniel Cabrera (4-1, 3.58) vs. Mike Mussina (6-3, 3.99)
Wednesday: Garrett Olson (3-0, 3.47) vs. Darrell Rasner (2-0, 3.00)
Thursday: Brian Burres (4-4, 3.47) vs. Ian Kennedy (0-3, 8.48)

I’m looking forward to tonight’s matchup, as Daniel Cabrera is quite a contrast to the elder Mussina, who relies on trickery and off-speed stuff to get hitters out. As we know, Daniel can go into the Bronx and dominate; meanwhile, Mussina has come back from his shaky ‘07 to get off to a great start. The Yankees offense is struggling, but A-Rod will be back; however, is Cabrera now officially the real deal? This start tonight will tell us a lot.

On Wednesday, young Garrett Olson goes Darrell Rasner, who’s been off to a good start. Although Olson has looked brilliant at times, the Oriole offense will need to help him out and the lefty starter will not only need to be efficient, but accurate on Wednesday, or the Yankee offense may have a field day with him.

The final start of the series has Buress against the horrific Ian Kennedy.

Kennedy has struggled in his time up in the majors in 2008; however, after a start in Trenton to get his mechanics straight along with his confidence, he’s back up at the big leagues. Meanwhile, we know what we are getting with Buress — he could either be very good or average. Much like with Olson, he needs to locate his pitches and be efficient, or he too could be in for a long night.

Prediction: Actually, I say the Orioles can take 2 out of 3.

The floor is open. Your thoughts?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.