(Best E Casino) -- As the curtain is about to close on Yankee Stadium, the home team has done its best to provide a few last memories for the historic old ballpark.
The New York Yankees will try to nail down a fourth consecutive home victory when they host the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon as part of the final series at Yankee Stadium.
New York opened this set with a 3-2 decision over the Orioles on Friday, with Johnny Damon scoring the eventual go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Carl Pavano (4-1) held Baltimore to two runs on six hits over the first six innings before turning the game over to the Yankee bullpen, which preserved the one-run edge by combining for four shutout frames. Mariano Rivera worked around a pair of hits in the ninth to record his 37th save of the season.
Brett Gardner had an RBI double for New York and robbed the Orioles' Luke Scott of a home run with a spectacular leaping catch in the fourth inning.
Radhames Liz (6-6) worked 6 1/3 for Baltimore but allowed all three Yankee runs on eight hits to take the loss. Aubrey Huff and Lou Montanez had an RBI apiece for Baltimore, which has secured last place in the AL East after dropping 15 of its last 19 contests.
Friday's win improved New York to 6-2 so far on the last homestand at Yankee Stadium, which was initially constructed in 1923 and has played host to 37 World Series. The park will be demolished at the conclusion of this season as the Yankees move across the street to a new state of the art facility.
New York likely won't be getting a few extra home games come October, since the team stands 7 1/2 games behind rival Boston for the lead in the American League wild-card race with just eight to play. The Yankees have reached the postseason in every season since 1995.
The Bronx Bombers will attempt to keep their strong recent run going this afternoon behind Alfredo Aceves, who's acquitted himself well so far during his brief tenure in the majors. The former Mexican League pitcher has yielded just four runs over 20 innings in four appearances, including a pair of starts, since being promoted in late August.
Aceves garnered his first major league win by twirling seven innings of one- run ball to defeat the Angels on September 9, then held the White Sox to two runs and five hits in a six-inning no-decision on Monday in his first Yankee Stadium start.
This will be the 25-year-old's first-ever encounter with Baltimore.
With Daniel Cabrera being shut down for the remainder of the season with a tender elbow, the Orioles will give Brian Burres another crack in the rotation for this afternoon's tilt. The left-hander has spent the majority of this campaign in a starting role, but was bumped to the bullpen in September after a pair of poor outings that followed a month-long stint in the minors.
Burres' most recent start came at Tampa Bay on August 31, with the 27-year-old surrendering seven runs and nine hits through five innings of a 10-4 Orioles' loss. He's made four relief appearances since and permitted six runs in a combined six innings of work.
In four meetings (3 starts) with the Yankees this season, Burres is 1-0 but has posted a 6.38 earned run average over those games. He owns a 2-2 record with a 5.45 ERA in 11 lifetime games (6 starts) against New York.
The Yankees own a 9-7 advantage in this year's season series with the Orioles and have won four of the seven matchups between the AL East members in the Bronx.
