In the seventh inning, Pettitte still was going strong with his perfect game. But Hairston committed an error on a ground ball with two outs to end the perfect game bid. The next batter, Nick Markakis, hit a single to end the no-hitter.

Pettitte, who has never had a no-hitter in his career, admitted after the game to getting excited about the possibilities.

Said Pettitte: “After the fifth inning, I kind of started thinking about it a little bit. It was cool. You can’t not with the fans; it seemed almost like we were at home, the fans were getting into it so much.”

Even though Pettitte didn’t get the perfect game, he did get the win as the Yankees took home a 5-1 victory. Pettitte bettered his record to 12-6 and lowered his ERA to 4.03.

You can watch Jerry Hairston Jr. error at ESPN.

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Both starting pitchers had a successful affair — Andy Pettitte for the Yankees and David Hernandez for the Orioles. Prior to Matsui’s homer, solo home runs by Nick Markakis and Eric Hinske were the only runs on the board.

On the season, Matsui is hitting .264 with 15 homers and 42 RBIs. He has an on-base percentage of .367 and 29 runs.

The 35-year-old native of Japan has battled injuries for much of the last three years. For the Yankees to make a World Series push, they’ll need Matsui swinging a hot bat.

With the win, the Yankees improved to 55-37. The Orioles fell to 41-51 with the loss.

Here’s is a video of Hideki Matsui’s walk-off home run:

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On the season, the 29-year-old native from Venezuela is hitting .260 with one homer and 13 RBIs. This is his first season in Baltimore. Previously, Izturis has played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angeles, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.

While the Orioles haven’t announced a time frame for his return, Izturis will likely miss between two weeks and one month.

Said Dave Trembley, the manager of the Orioles: “This is something that started yesterday but he didn’t say anything about it until he got to the park today. If we lose him for any amount of time it would be a major blow to this team. That’s how important he is.”

Cesar Izturis Appendectomy - Baltimore Orioles (Image: Zuma Press)

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5) Baltimore Orioles
Although the Orioles have a handful of very good players on their squad, the team as a whole is heading to another season without a postseason appearance.

4) Cleveland Indians
Before the season started, the Indians were an American League sleeper pick. Now? They just appear as if they are asleep.

3) Pittsburgh Pirates
Not long ago, the Pirates seemed to be on the right track. But with eight straight losses, the Pirates are headed back down to the cellar.

2) San Diego Padres
Although their record of 13-19 isn’t horrible, they have been outscored by 38 runs — the worst in all of Major League Baseball.

1) Washington Nationals
Who else? Everyone knew the Nationals were a bad team heading into the season and they currently have the worst record in baseball at 10-20.

The Washington Nationals are the Worst of the Worst (Image: Newscom)

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Koji Uehara, Baltimore Orioles (Image: Newscom)

In his five innings of work, Uehara scattered five hits and allowed only one earned run. Although the Yankees made a push after Uehara had left the game, Baltimore was able to escape with a 7-5 victory.

Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang wasn’t nearly as impressive. The native of Taiwan gave up nine hits and seven earned runs in only 3.2 innings of work. Last season, Wang was 19-7 with a 3.70 ERA.

The big bopper at the plate for the Orioles was Nick Markakis. The third hitter in the Orioles’ lineup was 3-for-3 with two runs, three RBIs and a walk. His two-run homer in the first inning got Baltimore off on the right foot and gave the team a lead they would never relinquish.

For the Yankees, $180 million dollar man Mark Teixeira continues to struggle. After two games, Teixeira is now 1-for-9 with eight runners left on base.

The Orioles and Yankees play again on Thursday at 1:35 PM EST.

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The extension for Markakis calls for him to make a little bit more than $66 million over six seasons. There’s also a seventh year of the deal that can be voided by either side, plus incentives that could push the total value of the contract to over $70 million.

Last season, Markakis had his third straight solid season as an outfielder for Baltimore. He totaled 20 homers, 89 RBIs and 106 runs while hitting .306 with a .406 on-base percentage. In 2007, had 23 homers and 112 RBIs.

The 6-foot-2 left hander is likely to hit in the third spot and play right field for the Orioles this season.

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In return, the Cubs received Garrett Olson, a pitcher, and Henry Williamson, a minor leaguer. Olson started 26 games for the Orioles last season and went 9-10 with a 6.65 ERA. Presumably, he’ll be given a shot to win a starting job but will likely end up in the minor leagues.

In Pie’s time up on the major league level with the Cubs, he has hit only .223 with three homers and 30 RBIs in 130 games. The native of the Dominican Republic will have to do much better to keep a starting spot with the Orioles.

If he can learn to hit big league pitching, Pie could still reach his potential. He has very good speed and has decent power. In the field, he has the ability to be a top flight corner outfielder.

The 23-year-old has no more minor league options so this year will basically be boom or bust for Felix Pie.

Photo credit: Newscom

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Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers may have given up in their hope of re-signing Manny Ramirez. If that is the case, Dunn is the next logical option for Los Angeles. He’s not quite as talented but he can replace most of the bop in the middle of the lineup that Ramirez provided.

Baltimore Orioles
After striking out in the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, the Orioles may throw big money at Dunn in hopes that they land a franchise level player. The Orioles are desperate for a big bat and a positive personality if they hope to keep fans around in 2009.

Washington Nationals
Like the Orioles, the Nationals are looking to rebound after missing out on Teixeira. While the team still has a lot of holes, a big bat in the middle of the lineup is arguably their most glaring need. Dunn could fit right in and be the cleanup hitter for the foreseeable future.

Chicago Cubs
The Cubs have a lot of talent and always seem to be right on the edge of actually making a postseason run. With a lot of their bats going quiet at the end of the 2008 season, adding Dunn’s bat may be just the thing to help the Cubs make noise in the playoffs.

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The Angels’ offer is believed to have been an eight-year contract worth at least $160 million. Sources indicate that the Angels didn’t believe they were still in the running and didn’t want to waste time on a lost cause.

Now that the Angels have dropped out, the remaining four teams in the running are the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox recently said that they were no longer in the running, however many baseball insiders believe that talk from Boston was simply a contract negotiating ploy.

Now that the Angels are out of the running, they could look in a variety of different direction. One option is Manny Ramirez, the former Red Sox who finished last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Other bats they could be looking at include Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu. If the Angels opt for pitching, one option could be closer Brian Fuentes. Fuentas would make sense since the Angels lost Francisco Rodriguez to the New York Mets earlier in the offseason.

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2. Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are desperate to turn around their dying franchise. Mark Teixeira is a hometown kid who grew up as an Orioles fan. Even if Baltimore has to overpay him, it’d be worth it to the organization in terms of making their fans excited again.

3. Washington Nationals
Like the Orioles, Teixeira is a kid from the neighborhood. Also like the Orioles, Teixeira would give validity to their ballclub. The Nationals would have to pay a whole lot of money to woo him to Washington, but they may just be desperate enough.

4. Los Angeles Angels
Even though the Los Angeles Angels appear to be a long shot at the moment, they have deep enough pockets to get Teixeira to consider re-signing. He knows the team and by all accounts enjoyed his time as part of the Angels, so there’s definitely a chance.

5. New York Yankees
If the Red Sox are interested in a player, you know the New York Yankees will also become interested in that player. Though the Yankees have been concentrating on pitching, Teixeira would make New York an unbelievably potent offensive team.

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