Game: Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees
Time: 7:05 p.m.
Odds: Orioles +153, Yankees -166
Total: 7.5
In a tight race for first place in the AL East, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles can each lay claim to being the hottest team. The first game of a three-game series between the two teams will be played at Yankee Stadium tonight. Both teams are coming off great weekends.
The Yankees are hoping to go 10 games over .500 for the first time this season after winning two of three games in Baltimore on April 7-9. The Yankees have won four straight games and are 14-5 since they were 15-15 following a loss on May 1.
During New York’s 19-game hot streak, the Yankees are and are 6-5 against AL East opponents. That includes a 6-1 road trip last week that saw them win three of four games in Toronto. On Sunday, the Yankees won 4-1 in Cincinnati to complete a three-game sweep of the Reds. Gleyber Torres and Harrison Bader both blasted a two-run home run in the victory.
Along with New York’s hot streak, Aaron Judge is now back after a brief absence due to a strained right hip. The Yankees are 10-3 since Judge’s comeback, and despite the slugger hitting .378 (17-for-45) with seven home runs and 18 RBIs since returning, Judge did not play on Sunday.
Baltimore is 15 games above .500 and travels to New York for the first time since finishing the 2016 campaign at 89-73. The Orioles are 9-3 in their last 12 games and 5-1 in their last six after a three-game losing streak from May 6–8.
Following their 8-3 victory over Toronto on Sunday, the Orioles are coming off their third series sweep of the year. Cedric Mullins went 7-for-15 in the series as Baltimore amassed 31 hits. Mullins is hitting 320 (24-for-75) in 19 games this month and went 5-for-6 with three RBIs on Sunday. Austin Hays recorded three hits, made four trips to the plate, and scored the go-ahead run in the eleventh inning.
The next obstacle for Baltimore will be finding ways to score against Gerrit Cole (5-0, 2.01), who is coming off four straight no-decisions. In his first three starts in May, Cole gave up nine earned runs over 16 innings, but on Wednesday in Toronto, he pitched more than six innings without allowing a run in a loss to the Jays in a game that lasted 10 innings. Cole has made 10 starts versus Baltimore and is 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA. In three starts versus the Orioles last year, he was 1-2 with a 4.29 ERA.
After pitching into the seventh inning for the first time this season in his last start, Kyle Bradish (2-1, 3.90) gets the nod for the Orioles. In the 6.2 innings of work in Wednesday’s 3-1 home victory against the Los Angeles Angels, Bradish gave up one run on four hits. That came after pitching six scoreless innings in a no-decision against Pittsburgh on May 12. In his two career starts against the Yankees, Bradish is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA.
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