Playing in Yankee Stadium should favor the Orioles.

In baseball the home team is supposed to always have a natural advantage.  They don't have to travel, they are more familiar with the ballpark, and they have the support of the fans.  However, in game 3 of the American League Division Series tonight, the advantage may be neutralized.  When the Orioles and Yankees face off in this pivotal matchup, it will feature the two best home run hitting clubs in baseball.  The Yankees have walloped an astounding 245 homers and the Orioles are a close second at 214.  It helps that both teams play in very small ballparks.  The game will be played at Yankees Stadium, where the right field line is only 314 feet and 8 foot high.  In Orioles Park at Camden Yards the wall is 25 feet high.  Having a short wall in right field that is easy for a power hitter to reach favors the Orioles.  They have a lineup that is stacked with power hitting lefties.  Matt Wieters has 23 home runs, Chris Davis has 33, Ryan Flaherty has 6 in limited at bats, and Jim Thome is number 7 on the all-time career home run list.  These are the four key players to watch for home runs to right field, as it is much easier for a lefty to hit a ball to right field (in baseball terms it's called pulling a ball) and vice versa, easier for a righty to hit the left field.  The Orioles do have power from the right side of the plate though that easily have enough muscle to hit opposite field and out.  Adam Jones (32), Mark Reynolds (23), and J.J. Hardy (22) can all lift it out of the ballpark on a consistent basis.

The Baltimore Orioles do not hit for average.  Their team batting average was .247 during the regular season, which ranked 20^th out of 30 major league teams.  They win ball games through the home run and in fact just under 50% of all the Baltimore runs scored this season have come via the home run.  In 3 series at Yankee stadium this year the orioles won each of them 2 games to 1.  For a team that lives and dies by the home run, moving to one of the best home run ballparks will be very advantageous.  Just by virtue of being the away team the Orioles will be considered underdogs, but the smart money in Vegas will be on them.