Game 18: Those pesky Orioles

Nine and friggin’ nine against the Orioles last year. That’s pretty unacceptable for a team that basically had the inverse of the Yanks record. They hope to get off on the right foot tonight, as they take on the erratic — and that’s putting it mildly — Daniel Cabrera.

In his career, Cabrera has pitched 72.2 innings against the Yanks, to the tune of a 4.95 ERA. What’s strange is that while he’s struck out 7.52 per nine inning over his career, he’s only struck out 5.2 per nine against the Yankees. He’s walked 5.31 per nine over his career (hence the 5.02 lifetime ERA), and 5.70 per nine vs. the Yanks.

So he has struck out fewer hitters and has walked more vs. the Yankees compared to the rest of his career, yet his ERA vs. the Yankees is a tick lower than his lifetime ERA. Strange stuff. Could tonight be the night luck really catches up to him? We started moving in that direction last year, tattooing him for 20 earned runs (21 total) in 27 innings, with 18 strikeouts to 17 walks.

Really, Cabrera should be sick. He’s 6’7″ and has nasty stuff. But control problems have plagued his career, and not even the tutelage of Leo Mazzone could fix him. His ERA has climbed every year since 2005, and he has yet to crack a league-average ERA.

For the good guys, Phil Hughes takes the mount, trying to regain his form. And what better team to do it against than the Orioles? Yeah, they may be 9-7 now, but I can’t seem to figure out how. They only have three guys on the offensive side with an OPS+ above league average — and Luke Scott won’t be hitting .380/.456/.600 for much longer. Then again, it stands to reason that Ramon Hernandez will raise his paltry .152/.160/.326 line.

Oh yeah, and Edwar is in the house! Albaladejo is sent down, which is fine and good, since he tossed three innings last night. You might be asking what happened to Scott Patterson, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. Edwar will be gone once Joba comes back, which probably won’t be too far in the future.

Your lineups:

1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Jason Giambi, 1B
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Chad Moeller, C

And on the mound, number thirty-four, Phil Hughes

And for the O’s

Roberts
Mora
Markakis
Millar
Scott
Huff
Jones
R. Hernandez
L. Hernandez