Orange Birds Come To Bronx To Face New York Yankees

NEW YORK - The New York Yankees (58-46) are looking to take their fourth series in a row after sweeping the Athletics and Twins and taking two out of three from the Red Sox.

The Baltimore Orioles (49-55) manager Dave Trembley will look to light up another winning cigar, but the Yankees will be a tough team to tame.

The Yankees have been on fire as of late, only a 9-2 loss to the Red Sox on Sunday has halted the Yankees win streak at eight. 

Sidney Ponson was roughed up, giving up seven runs and 10 hits in only four innings of work.  David Ortiz connected with a two-run shot in the fourth inning to end Ponson's rough outing in Fenway.

The loss Sunday night shows that the Yankees could possibly need one more starter.  Jarrod Washburn of the Seattle Mariners or Brian Bannister of the Kansas City Royals could possibly come over before the trade deadline, but time will have to tell. 

They are a lot closer to getting Washburn, as the Bannister talk is rumored at this point.

Back to business for the Yankees as they hope Monday is the start of another winning run and to continue their climb to the top of the AL East standings.  Heading into Monday, they have gained a lot of ground as of late, only three games behind the Rays and two games behind the Red Sox.

The Yankees will send their pitcher with the most wins to the mound, Mike Mussina (13-6, 3.26) who looks to get his first 20-game winning season of his long career.  His last start was on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium against the Twins in where he went eight strong without giving up a run in his best start yet.

The Baltimore Orioles counter with Jeremy Guthrie (6-8, 3.58) who is making his second start against the Yankees this season, in where he suffered a loss in his first try.  He allowed three runs off of six hits.

Mussina, however, has struggled even more this season against his former team, only going two-thirds of an inning against the Orioles this season, giving up seven runs.

After this series, the Yankees have to face the team that is currently carrying the best record in baseball, the Los Angeles Angels as they remain at home over the weekend.