AL East Tilt: Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees

To say it has been a rough season for the Baltimore Orioles may be a little of an understatement. After losing the first three games of the four-game series to the New York Yankees, they currently sit 52.5 games out of first place in the AL East. How bad is it? They could win every game remaining on the schedule and would still not make the postseason.

The Yankees are in a good spot to make the playoffs, but at 7 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East, that will likely come as a wild-card team. Still, the Yankees (82-47) will continue to look to claw back into the AL East race and look for the sweep when they travel to Camden Yards to take on the Orioles (37-93). For the Yankees, righty Luis Severino (16-6, 3.28 ERA) will take the mound to take on the Orioles’ Dylan Bundy (7-12, 5.31 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 8:08 pm ET.

Themoney linee for Sunday night’s game is set at the New York Yankees -265 and the Baltimore Orioles at +242. The over/under for runs scored is set at 9.

Yankees Looking For Sweep

After taking the first three games of the series, including wins in both games of a double header on Saturday, the Yanks are looking for the sweep Sunday night. To do so, they will send righty Luis Severino to take the ball. On the season, Severino is 16-6 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and opponents are hitting .238 against him. In 159.1 innings, he has 181 strikeouts, 39 walks and allowed 17 home runs. Win he is on, Severino has top of the rotation type stuff; however, he has shown some inconsistency as of recent. He has allowed 9 runs in 16 innings over three starts. The offense bailed him out, though, as he actually picked up two wins over those three starts. His strikeout numbers have been solid as he has had 22 over that time.

Offensively, both Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton have been seeing the ball really well over the last month. In that time, Andujar is hitting .330/.345/.615 with a .960 OPS. He also has 8 home runs, 26 runs batted in and 19 runs over those 30 days. For Stanton, he is pretty similar as he is hitting .312/.378/.642 with a 1.020 OPS. He has 9 home runs, 23 runs batted in and 23 runs in that time. Needless to say, the Yankees offense is potent.

Orioles Trying To Finish Season With Heads Held High

It has been a tough season for the Orioles. To their credit, they finally realized that they don’t have the team to compete in the AL East and have sold off some of their parts. Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Kevin Gausman have all been shipped off. While this is good for the long-term outlook of the organization, it makes the short-term all the more painful. Still, they have to compete and would love nothing more than to play spoiler when possible.
To try to play spoiler, the Orioles will send Dylan Bundy to the mound.

On the season, Bundy is 7-12 with a 5.31 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and opponents are hitting .271 against him. In 135.2 innings, he has struck out 140, walked 41 but has also given up a major league-high 33 home runs. Against a potent lineup, that is not the best of situations for the Orioles.

On the offensive side, Mark Trumbo and Trey Mancini has provided a little bit of pop for an otherwise depleted offense. In the last 30 days, Trumbo is hitting .306/.333/.514 with a .847 OPS. He has 5 home runs, 16 runs batted in and has scored 11 runs. For Mancini, he is hitting .292/.333/.472 with a .805 OPS. He also has 5 home runs, 13 runs batted in and has scored 12 runs. Mancini has also had a bit of success against Severino. He is 5 for 9 against him with a run batted in.

Yankees Finish The Sweep

There’s not much to like about this game for the Orioles. The Yankees have a potent offense and Bundy is known for giving up runs. The only sliver of hope for the Orioles is if the wheels fall off again for Severino. Again, he’s been inconsistent as of late and if he gets wild, they may be able to capitalize. Still, with such a depleted offense, I still don’t know if it will be enough. I know they are heavy favorites and the money line reflects that, but I am still taking the Yankees.