VENUE: Yankee Stadium
It doesn't seem appropriate that the New York Yankees will likely be eliminated from playoff contention during their final series at Yankee Stadium.
New York begins its last series at the "House That Ruth Built" on Friday night when the Baltimore Orioles visit the Bronx.
The venerable stadium, built in 1923 as the first baseball venue with three decks, has been the home for Yankees for all of their major league-best 26 World Series titles. New York (82-71) won the last of those titles by capturing three straight World Series from 1998-2000, part of its run of 13 straight postseason appearances from 1995-2007.
That streak should come to an end this weekend with New York 7 1/2 games behind Boston for the AL wild card. The Red Sox have a magic number of three to eliminate the Yankees.
New York has won four straight against Baltimore (67-84) to take an 8-7 lead in the season series. Right fielder Bobby Abreu has enjoyed facing the Orioles, batting .434 against them this year, including 10-for-19 (.526) with seven runs and four RBIs in six games at Yankee Stadium.
Abreu had a huge night on Thursday with two homers and six RBIs in a 9-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The lopsided game allowed the Yankees to pull some of their starters early as they turned in the kind of effort they expected to have more frequently in 2008.
"It was an example of how we could've played all year," said starting pitcher Mike Mussina, who won his 18th game.
Carl Pavano (3-1, 5.26 ERA) will start Friday for New York after being booed off the mound in his last appearance. Pavano won Sunday against Tampa Bay by giving up four runs in 5 1-3 innings, but left with a stiff left hip to the jeers of a sellout crowd.
The right-hander has started only 24 games for the Yankees since signing a four-year, $39.95 million contract before the 2005 season.
"I'm at a spot right now where I'm starting to wake up muscles I haven't used in a while," Pavano said. "Every time I go out there, there's more innings than the last time and more pitches than the last time so I mean these are things I'm going to have to work through."
He is 3-2 with a 3.48 ERA in six career outings against the Orioles, winning his season debut against them on Aug. 23 by yielding three runs in five innings of a 5-3 victory.
Radhames Liz (6-5, 6.90) will start for Baltimore after turning in the best start of his career his last time out. Liz gave up five hits in eight scoreless innings Sunday in a 7-3 win over Minnesota.
The second-year right-hander has started against the Yankees once, yielding three runs in 4 2-3 innings and not getting a decision in a 9-4 loss on Aug. 22.
Baltimore has lost 14 of its last 18 games and has already guaranteed it will finish last in the AL East for the first time since 1988.
Sunny. Cool.
