MLB Odds: Yankees vs. Orioles MLB Picks – September 1, 2009: In last night’s opener, the New York Yankees flirted with history not once but twice, as they drew first blood in their series against the Baltimore Orioles. For game 2, the New York Yankees [-174 ML] have been listed as the sports betting odds favorites against the betting underdogs, Baltimore Orioles [+164 ML] tonight at 7:05 PM ET (4:05 PM PT).
For 6 innings and 2/3 Andy Pettitte was perfect, recording 20 consecutive outs with no hits, no runs, no bases-on-ball, and no errors. With Pettitte in the zone and catcher Jorge Posada having already called a perfect game 
(David Wells in 1998), it seemed very possible, especially because of the way that Pettitte was throwing the ball.
Possible until newly acquired, Jerry Hairston Jr. — who was playing third base to give Alex Rodriguez a day off — made a 7th inning error on a routine ground ball with 2 men out. "I wish I could have that one back," Hairston said. "Nobody feels worse than I do. It's kind of tough to swallow, but I've played long enough to know things happen. It's unfortunate. It's a shame."
That seemed to take Pettitte out of his rhythm, as the perfect game was gone and the no-hitter was broken by the very next batter Nick Markakis. However, if Hairston Jr. fields that ball cleanly and throws to first, that would have ended the inning.
"There was no doubt, after the fifth inning, I started thinking about it a little bit. It was cool," Pettitte said. "That was neat for me to be able to do something like that so late in my career… there's not a whole lot that gets me excited, and I didn't really get too excited yet. I had a lot of outs left to get."
Tonight’s pitching matchup features a guy who already has a no-hitter in his career, as RHP A.J. Burnett (10-8, 4.10 ERA) takes on RHP David Hernandez (4-6, 4.24 ERA) in the middle game of the series. The OVER/UNDER for this, MLB Odds: Yankees vs. Orioles MLB Picks – September 1, 2009 has been set at a combined total of 9½ runs scored.
"I really felt good, and I was throwing everything for strikes and putting it where I wanted to," Pettitte said. "You're just like, 'Heck, maybe it could happen.' But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, 'I've never done it.' "
"He was great today," the greatest closer in history, Mariano Rivera said. "It was beautiful to see him perform the way he did. It's too bad what happened like that. It's baseball. I was praying for him to get it done. It couldn't happen to a better person."
"Pettitte pitched a tremendous, terrific, exceptional, outstanding, superb — however you want me to say it — ballgame," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "I think I said it in a nutshell, probably one of the year's finest. Tip of the cap."
