(Sports Network) - Mike Mussina tries to follow up a solid outing in his last start this evening when the New York Yankees continue their three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium.

Mussina had been brutal in his three starts before beating Toronto on Wednesday. In fact he had been so bad that he was removed from the rotation after pitching to a 17.69 earned run average in the three losses.

The 38-year-old right-hander, though, was brilliant against the Blue Jays, as he scattered five hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings to run his record to 9-10 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 5.28.

Mussina, who pitched the first 10 years of his career with the Orioles, is 9-6 lifetime against his former team with a 4.51 ERA in 21 starts.

The Yankees moved closer to a playoff spot in the opener of this set on Monday, as Hideki Matsui homered and Bobby Abreu drove in a pair of runs in an 8-5 win. Doug Mientkiewicz also drove in a pair of runs for New York, which moved within 3 1/2 games of Boston in the AL East and went 3 1/2 games ahead of Detroit in the wild card race.

The Red Sox lost to Toronto, 6-1, on Monday, while the Tigers fell to the Indians, 6-5, in 11 innings.

Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-3 and matched a career-high with his 142nd RBI of the season for New York, which won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Phil Hughes (4-3) allowed just two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings to earn his first major league win at Yankee Stadium.

Nick Markakis was 2-for-5 and drove in three runs for the Orioles, who have lost five of eight.

Daniel Cabrera (9-17) was touched for six runs on eight hits in five-plus innings en route to the loss. The flame-throwing righty became the first big league pitcher to lose 17 games this season.

Getting the call for the O's tonight will be righty Jon Leicester, who is 2-1 with a 6.32 ERA. Leicester won his second straight start on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, as he yielded four hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

This will be his first-ever appearance against the Yankees.

Baltimore has been a thorn in the Yankees' side this season, despite the fact that it is 21 games below .500. The Orioles have won eight of 13 from the Yanks this season, including four of seven in the Bronx.