Nova And Yanks Look To Move Past O's In Wild Card Standings

Needing to go 23-9 over their last 29 games this season entering Friday night, the New York Yankees walked away with the first of 23 wins, taking down the Baltimore Orioles 8-5 Friday night in the Bronx.

CC Sabathia was perfect through three, but that all went out the window in the 4th, when his night started to go south, like so many others have this season. Backed by a five-run 5th inning, Sabathia was still able to walk away with the victory.

Mark Reynolds, Ichiro, Robinson Cano and Alfonso Soriano came up big for the Yankees. Soriano launched his 12th homerun since joining the Yankees, Ichiro also jacked a two-run homerun in the 5th to put them ahead 5-4. Then later in the inning, Cano singled home a pair of runs, making it a 7-4 game.

With the win, the Yanks gained a game on the Orioles, and now sit just a half a game back in the wild card standings. Should the Yanks pull off another win today, they would move past Baltimore in the standings.

Updated Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Jeter SS
Cano 2B
Soriano DH
Granderson LF
Reynolds 3B
Ichiro RF
Overbay 1B
Stewart C
Nova P

A-Rod was scratched because of flu-like symptoms. Mark Reynolds was moved from first to third base, and Lyle Overbay was inserted into the lineup at first base.

Pitching Preview:

As mentioned above, Sabathia was rolling along through three innings, before unraveling for five runs on seven hits in 5 1/3. He continued to show reason why you shouldn't believe in the Yanks playoff hopes, as the top starters continue to struggle.

Apart from Sabathia, and lately Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova has been one of the Yankees top most consistent starters over since the start of July. Nova has tossed at least six innings in nine consecutive starts, and he's been able to hold opponents to three earned runs or fewer eight times in that span.

Unlike Sabathia and Phil Hughes, and, again, lately Kuroda, Nova hasn't been prone to giving up the longball this season, having given up just five up to this point. He'll be taking the mound against the Orioles, who he's faced ten time before in his career, posting a 4-2 record with a 4.95 ERA in those 10 appearances.

Taking the mound against Nova and the Yankees is Orioles right-hander Scott Feldman, who the team acquired weeks before the July 31st trading deadline. Feldman will be making his 10th start while with the O's, having 4-3 record and a 4.56 ERA in the first nine starts.

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