Yankees gear up for
back-to-back sweeps
July 22, 2009 by Marc Jerbs

These Yankees are really a streaky team, after getting swept by the Angels before the All-Star break; they poured it on against the Tigers and hapless Orioles. They now have a 5-game winning streak since the All-Star break and possibly notch back-to-back sweeps against the Orioles tomorrow. And due to their winning streak, they now lead the AL East by a game over the Red Sox.

It's quite evident that since Alex Rodriguez return from injury last May 8, these Yankees turned their season around and have made a lot of noise around the MLB. The Yankees are a major-league best 43-22 since Rodriguez came back from an early season hip surgery. I think no other team expected the Yankees could turn from a sub-par team to a playoff contender in a span of two months.

The Orioles are the exact opposite of the Yankees. They started the season on a wrong foot and they never recovered. Right now, they are in last place in the AL East and it's hard to bounce back from this ultra competitive division.

Tomorrow, Orioles' pitcher Jason Berken will try to disrupt the back-to-back sweep plans of the Yankees. In his last outing, he allowed six runs, on seven hits and was pulled out in the fifth inning. He is having a hard time in keeping the ball down in the strike zone.

The Yankees will have AJ Burnett on the mound. He just lost twice in his last nine starts, logging five victories in that span and is 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA in three July outings. A simple analysis on this match up clearly points that the Yankees are on a hot streak and heavily favored to beat the Orioles tomorrow as provided by sports handicappers and sports books.