With a 12-3 start to the month of May, the New York Yankees (27-9) have the best record in baseball as they face the Baltimore Orioles (14-23). The Yankees took the first two games of the series, 6-2 and 5-4, and now send RHP Gerrit Cole (3-0, 2.95) to the mound against RHP Jordan Lyles (2-3, 4.38). Wednesday’s game at Camden Yards in Baltimore starts at 7:05 p.m. ET, airing locally in both markets.
The Orioles went 2-1 against the Yankees at home in April, but New York got a three-game home sweep at the end of the month. Last year the Yankees won the season series 11-8 with a 6-4 mark at Camden Yards. The Yankees are 39-15 against the Orioles since the start of 2019, and Baltimore hasn’t won a season series with New York since 2016.
Judge Leads Yankees Again
The Yankees are 8-1 in their last nine games, and they have scored at least five runs in seven of those wins. New York is 13-5 on the road and 20-6 in games where the opposition starts a RHP. They are 14-6 against Al East opponents.
In Monday’s series opener, Josh Donaldson was 3-for-4 with a homer, while Anthony Rizzo also went deep. Aaron Judge homered twice and drove in three while going 4-for-5 in Tuesday’s win. Gleyber Torres, who had a 5-RBI game last week, is 4-for-8 so far in the series.
Judge is having a great season as he leads MLB with 14 home runs and leads the team with a .315 average. He has eight home runs in May while driving in 16 runs. Stanton leads the team with 32 RBI, while he and Rizzo both have ten home runs.
Cole allowed three runs on six hits at the White Sox on Friday while earning a win as he struck out nine over 6⅓ innings. He’s gone at least six innings in four straight starts and allowed two earned runs or less in five straight starts. Cole hasn’t faced the Orioles this season but was 2-0 against them last year with 20 strikeouts and one run allowed over 12 innings.
Cole has fared well against the Orioles lineup, with only Chris Owings (.417) hitting above .280 against him. Trey Mancini is 1-for-9, Cedric Mullins is 3-for-12, Anthony Santander is 1-for-11, and Austin Hays is 0-for-3. Robinson Chirinos is the only current Baltimore player with a career home run against Cole.
Orioles Struggle to Score
Baltimore has lost five games in a row, scoring a combined eight runs in those setbacks. They are 9-9 at home this season and 8-15 against RHP. The Orioles are 4-10 against the AL East, and they have scored more than four runs just twice in the last 11 games.
Santander accounted for both of Baltimore’s runs on Monday with a pair of solo home runs, while Rougned Odor had the only other hit. The O’s had nine hits on Tuesday with a home run from Ramon Urias and doubles by Odor and Ryan McKenna. Mancini was 2-for-4 on Tuesday, while Tyler Nevin was 2-for-3.
Mancini leads the Orioles with a .289 average while Hays is batting .281. Santander now has six home runs, one more than Mullins. Santander and Ryan Mountcastle both have 16 RBI, and Hays has nine doubles.
Lyles lost in Detroit on Friday, allowing four runs on six hits over 5⅔ innings while striking out six. He has gone at least five innings in all but one start this season, and he has 32 strikeouts to 14 walks in 39 innings. Lyles lost at the Yankees on April 26 and took a no-decision on April 15, allowing seven runs on 13 hits in 11 ⅓ innings against New York this season.
Lyles has allowed two homers to Rizzo, who is 6-for-22, while Stanton is 7-for-15 with a home run. Judge is 0-for-5 against Lyles, and Torres is 0-for-4 while D.J. LeMahieu is 6-for-19, and Joey Gallo has the other Yankees home run off Lyles while Donaldson is 5-for-10.
Betting Analysis
- New York Yankees -1.5 (-145) Moneyline -255
- Baltimore Orioles +1.5 (+125) Moneyline +205
- Total Runs: 7.5 Over -115, Under -105
The Yankees offense appears to be on cruise control these days, and the team is just cranking out win after win. The Orioles have struggled to keep up with good offenses all season, and they have lost five straight games to the Bronx Bombers. Until they cool off, keep riding the Yankees to win and score in bunches.
Betting Pick: Yankees -1.5 (-145)
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