Yanks Blast Four Homers, Beat O's 9-4

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
N.Y. Yankees	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	4		9	16	0
Baltimore	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0		4	9	1

Down 3-1 in the 5th I wasn't feeling too good about this one. But thanks to two back-to-back homers by Cano and Molina in the 6th, and some timely late-inning hitting against a pretty crappy Baltimore bullpen, the Yankees were able to do what they haven't been able to since July 25th, and win the first game of a series.

Mike Mussina hasn't been able to solve the Orioles all year, but compared to his other starts against them, this one was too bad. He allowed four runs on nine hits in six innings; he didn't walk a batter and struck out three. He left the game after the sixth with the Yankees trailing 4-3.

In the top of the 8th A-Rod - who had been struggling - doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Two batters later they would tie the game on a wild pitch, and then Xavier Nady drove in the lead run with an RBI single.

The Yankees added some much needed insurance runs in the 9th when Cody Ransom hit a three-run homer. He's now 2-for-2 with 2 HR with 5 RBI as a Yankees. That was followed by a Xavier Nady solo homer.

Jose Veras picked up his fourth win with a scoreless 7th. Damaso Marte came in for the 8th and retired the first two batters he faced, before hitting Aubrey Huff. And Mariano Rivera came in for the last four outs, and got them in order for his 29th save.

Derek Jeter picked up a single in the first inning for his 2,500th career hit.

Boston, Tampa and Minnesota all won, Chicago lost. The Yankees still trail Boston by 6 and Tampa by 10.5, but now they trail Chicago by 5.5.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	5	1	1	0	0	0	2	.312
Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	2	0	.296
Abreu, RF	5	2	5	1	0	0	0	.295
Rodriguez, A, 3B	5	2	2	0	0	1	4	.309
Giambi, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	2	3	.250
Ransom, 1B	1	1	1	3	0	0	0	1.000
Nady, LF	5	1	2	2	0	2	0	.328
Matsui, DH	3	0	0	0	2	1	1	.313
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	.263
Molina, C	4	1	1	1	0	2	4	.227
Totals	41	9	16	8	2	10	15
BATTING 2B: Damon (26, Liz), Rodriguez, A 2 (28, Walker, Cabrera, F). HR: Cano (11, 5th inning off Liz, 0 on, 0 out), Molina (2, 5th inning off Liz, 0 on, 0 out), Ransom (2, 9th inning off Cabrera, F, 2 on, 2 out), Nady (21, 9th inning off Cabrera, F, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 2; Jeter; Abreu 5; Rodriguez, A 4; Giambi; Ransom 4; Nady 5; Cano 5; Molina 4. RBI: Abreu (82), Cano (56), Molina (14), Nady 2 (78), Ransom 3 (5). 2-out RBI: Ransom 3; Nady. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi; Damon 2; Molina. GIDP: Rodriguez, A. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING CS: Abreu (10, 2nd base by Liz/Hernandez, R).

ORIOLES OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina	6.0	9	4	4	0	3	1	3.45
Veras (W, 4-2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.78
Marte (H, 20)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.45
Rivera (S, 29)	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.60

ORIOLES PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Bobby Abreu (5-for-5, RBI, 2 R)

HONORABLE MENTION: Xavier Nady (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, R)

Tomorrow is game two of this three game set and it also marks the return of Carl Pavano who will make his first start in pinstripes since April 9, 2007. He will face O's right-handed Jeremy Guthrie. First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. - TV: YES - Radio: WCBS 880