BALTIMORE — The Yankees will ride a three-game winning streak into The Bronx, where the latest installment of the Subway Series will play out beginning tonight.
But here is the question:
Are the three consecutive wins a tease, something to give hope to Yankees fans that the six-game losing skid that ended Tuesday night is deep in the past, or is the winning streak something to build on with the banged-up Mets coming to Yankee Stadium for three games?
“We are ready to do some special stuff,” said Nick Swisher, after driving in four runs in last night’s 13-2 win over the Orioles in front of 24,939 at Camden Yards, where rain delayed the start and continued throughout the game.
Staked to a 5-0 lead in the first when Swisher doubled in three runs, CC Sabathia (4-3) cruised to the victory. In eight scoreless frames Sabathia allowed seven hits, struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter. Eighty-four of the 109 pitches he threw were for strikes. He improved to 16-2 against the Birds; 10-1 at Camden Yards.
To a man, the Yankees believe the Subway Series is for the fans much more than it is for them. But they could be catching the Mets (who have won six of their last eight) at a very good time — and the three-game winning streak isn’t the only reason.
“We feel we are playing good right now. We have a lot of talent in the room,” said Swisher, who added an RBI single in the fourth. “When it comes together it’s nice.”
Swisher’s three-run double off Orioles starter Brad Bergesen stopped a 0-for-17 slump with two outs and runners in scoring position for the switch-hitter, whose hit glanced off left fielder Felix Pie’s glove.
Mark Teixeira, who was the designated hitter with Jorge Posada starting at first, hit a two-run homer and Eduardo Nunez, who entered the game in the eighth inning, homered with a runner on in the ninth.
Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner and Swisher each had two hits.
The victory moved the Yankees to within one game of the AL East-leading Rays.
Sabathia has received tremendous run support. In his four wins, all of which have come in his last six starts, the Yankees have scored 52 runs. Before he threw a pitch last night, the ace had a 5-0 lead.
“I made sure I didn’t get behind guys,” Sabathia said. “I will take it any time.”
The Yankees ended the six-game losing streak with a win against the Rays, but Jeter said he was impressed with the victories over the Orioles.
“It feels good. We played well the two games here,” Jeter said of Wednesday night’s 15-inning win and last evening’s beating. “We feel good and it starts all over again [tonight].”
That’s when Freddy Garcia faces a Mets lineup without David Wright and Ike Davis. And when the Yankees hitters will battle R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball.
“It’s great for the fans. At the end of the day we play for the fans,” Teixeira said of the Subway Series. “We are entertainers and the New York has the best fans in the world.”
For many, interleague play has run out of the glitz it had when introduced in 1997, but MLB has no plans to scrap it.
So, it’s Mets-Yankees at the Stadium for three with the hosts riding a three-game winning streak that is either a tease or a sign that last week’s funk has completely lifted.
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