On Thursday, two American League East rivals meet on the diamond when the Baltimore Orioles (31-17, 2nd AL East) play the third and final game of a three-game series in the Big Apple against the New York Yankees (30-20, 3rd AL East). In the opening game of the series on Tuesday, the Orioles were defeated by the Yankees 6-5. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Baltimore but the Orioles have won five of the last seven. New York's victory on Tuesday was its 5th straight and the Yankees have won nine at the last 11. Baltimore will play without two pitchers and third baseman Ramon Urias. New York will play without nine pitchers as well as position players Jose Trevino, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson.
Baltimore trails first place Tampa Bay by only three games in the AL East and much of that is due to excellent production at the plate. Baltimore is 13th in team batting average at .252 and ninth in both on base percentage (.330) and slugging percentage (.427). The Orioles have scored 245 runs which is eighth most in baseball. Cedric Mullins has produced the best at the plate with 12 doubles, three triples, 8 home runs and a team best 39 RBI. Ryan Mountcastle has been one of Baltimore's most productive hitters with 11 doubles, one triple, a team best 10 home runs and 34 RBI (2nd). Baltimore has hit 86 doubles, 8 triples and 60 home runs in 48 games.
On the mound, Baltimore is holding its own with a team ERA of 4.05 which is 12th and a WHIP of 1.31, which is 17th. Baltimore's starting rotation has only 13 Qu ality Starts which is 20th and the pitching staff is allowing opposing hitters to average .252 which is 21st. Grayson Rodriguez is leading Baltimore in strikeouts with 50 and Kyle Gibson has a team best five wins. Gibson will get the nod on the mound Thursday. This season the right-hander is 5-3 with an ERA of 4.27 and 41 strikeouts.