For the last 15 years or so, Camden Yards has been a home away from home for the Yankees. Fans always made the trip down while the Orioles were cellar-dwellers, and the park was always filled with more Yankees fans than hometown fans. It was the same way for the Red Sox as well. That wasn’t the case in the first two games of the ALDS though, the first two playoff games in B’more in a decade and a half. Now the series shifts to the Bronx.
The Yankees, like most teams, are a far better club at home and that should give them an advantage for the remainder of the series. The Bombers are also throwing their most reliable starter in Game Three tonight, reliable in the sense that Hiroki Kuroda performed well all season while his rotation-mates got hurt and/or struggled. He’ll become the first Japanese pitcher to start a playoff game in team history. Here are the lineups…
Baltimore Orioles
LF Nate McLouth
SS J.J. Hardy
RF Chris Davis
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
DH Jim Thome
1B Mark Reynolds
2B Ryan Flaherty
3B Manny Machado
RHP Miguel Gonzalez (9-4, 3.25)
New York Yankees
SS Derek Jeter
LF Ichiro Suzuki
DH Alex Rodriguez
2B Robinson Cano
RF Nick Swisher
1B Mark Teixeira
CF Curtis Granderson
C Russell Martin
3B Eric Chavez
RHP Hiroki Kuroda (16-11, 3.32)
It was drizzling in New York earlier this morning, but the weather has cleared up and we’ll have our first rain delay-free game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:37pm ET and can be seen on TBS. If the Giants and Reds are still playing, the start of this game will air on TNT. Enjoy the game.