O's-Yankees, Now An Anti-Blowout

I missed the game today, but it appears that Brian Burres did indeed take some tips from Garrett Olson's game yesterday. Burres pounded the zone, throwing 70 of 99 pitches for strikes. His final line was 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K. He didn't get much support, as Ian Kennedy pitched pretty well also (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K). He got Nick on strikes three times, swinging at fastballs. Melvin Mora's hand is in bad shape I guess, as Aubrey Huff started at third base.

It went to a battle of the bullpens, which I would be pretty confident about with Joba going two innings yesterday. Kennedy let way to Jose Veras, then Kyle Farnsworth, followed by Mo. All three pitched scoreless innings. Jim Johnson came in for the O's and pitches a scoreless eighth. He got into trouble in the ninth, giving up a a single and a walk before Robbie Cano hit a two-out single to left to bring in the winning run. The O's lose, 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth. That big blowout in the first game is all but forgotten, as the Birds drop the series two games to one.

Oh well, the Orioles are still 2.5 games ahead of New York. That's good.