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The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will get together this afternoon for an opening day AL East dust-up at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:05pm ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN. 

New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles Baseball Predictions at Sportsbook.com have the Yankees listed as a -188 moneyline favorite. The game total is set at 8.5 runs with the under being favored at -115 odds.

The Yankees had perhaps the busiest off-season of any team in baseball, signing big name free agents C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira. They also saw the retirement of pitching rotation stalwart Mike Mussina but resigned veteran Andy Pettitte and reupped former ace Chien-Ming Wang. If the spring training results are any indication, all the Yankees activity should go a long way toward improving last year's 89-73 record. New York closed out the Grapefruit League with a first place mark of 24-10. 

Newly acquired hurler, C.C. Sabathia, will make his Yankee debut today and a return to the American League after playing the final three months of the 2008 season in Milwaukee. Sabtahia pitched brilliantly last year, accumulating a 2.70 ERA along with 17 wins. The 6'7" California native also struck out 251 batters in 253 innings pitched.

Sabtahia did not face the Orioles in 2008, but the current lineup of Baltimore hitters has a collective .174 batting average against the big lefty. In 86 at bats versus the former Cy Young winner, the O's hitters have generated just four RBI.

Baltimore comes into this game, and the 2009 season, with few expectations. The Orioles concluded last year with a 68-93 last place AL East finish and they did nothing to stir any optimism with their spring training performance. The O's went 13-21 in the Grapefruit League for a 15th place finish in the spring ball standings.

Baltimore skipper Dave Trembley will send right-hander Jeremy Guthrie to the hill this afternoon to face an imposing Yankees lineup (minus Alex Rodriquez - hip surgery). Guthrie had a good 2008 season, finishing with a respectable 3.63 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. He had a 10-12 record and went 1-2 in three starts against New York.

The Oregon native gave up 16 hits and nine earned runs in 19.3 innings pitched versus the Yanks. He also fanned 15 while walking just three pinstripe batters.

New York won 11 of the 18 games they played against the O's in 2008. They went 5-4 at Camden Yards, winning by an average of 3.2 runs per game in their five victories.

Sportsbook.com's New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles Baseball Predictions:

New York Yankees -1.5 (-130), -188 (Moneyline), Over 8.5 (-105)

Baltimore Orioles +1.5 (+110), +178 (Moneyline), Under 8.5 (-115)

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