This Sunday the (65-30) New York Yankees and the (46-47) Baltimore Orioles will play their final game of this three-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 1:35 PM EST inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This is also the fifth series between these two teams this season, as the Yankees have won three out of the first four. New York also won game one of this series, 7-6.
The New York Yankees are coming into this one after losing back-to-back games to the Houston Astros. The Yankees struggled at the plate in game one and their pitching failed them in game two. They will need to be better on both sides of the field if they want to take care of business in the final game of this series.
The Baltimore Orioles are entering this one after losing their previous series to the Tampa Bay Rays. All three games that they played were very close, but the Orioles struggled on the mound and in the fiel d, as they surrendered too many runs. They will need to be better on the mound in this one if they want to avoid another crushing defeat.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The New York Yankees have looked very solid through the first half of this season. They are currently in first place in the AL East, as they are 12 games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. In their last 1o, they are (4-6). New York struggled against the Astros in their last two games, but they bounced back nicely in game one of this series. At the plate, they are scoring 5.36 runs per game and hitting .245 as a team. This is the most runs scored per game and the 13th highest overall team batting average, as the Yankees have shown that they can score multiple different ways. They will consistently reach base and I wouldn't be surprised if they cranked a few balls out of the park, as well. New York is averaging 1.70 home runs per game, which is the highest average in the league. Their batting lineup is extremely deep, as they don't have a weak spot. It is very difficult to stay with the Yankees, as they can score so many differ ent ways. New York is also aggressive once they have reached base safely, as they have already stolen 63 bases this season. This is the fourth most, as the Yankees will do whatever it takes to put men in scoring position.
In the field, the Yankees are also solid. They are allowing 3.27 runs per game and they have the fifth highest overall team fielding percentage. They do a great job of backing up their starting pitchers, as they don't make many mistakes and they always know where to go with the ball to get the nearest out. The Yankees have also only recorded 41 errors, which is the seventh least in the MLB. They rarely make mistakes that come back to hurt them, as it has been difficult to score on them all season.
According to MLB.com, Nestor Cortes will be getting the start on the mound in this one. He has started this season (7-3), with a 2.63 ERA, and a 1.00 WHIP. Reaching base safely against him is extremely tough and scoring is even harder. In his last start, he pitched for 7.0 innings and only allowed one earned run to the Cincinnati Reds. He completely shut them down and showed why he deserved to be an All-Star this season.