Orioles-Yankees series preview: These guys again?

Look, how is it possible that the Orioles are playing the Yankees again? Didn’t they just play them? Haven’t they already played them a hundred times this year? Just ugh.

At the end of this series, the Orioles and Yankees will have played each other 13 times in their first 45 games. That is a lot! The good thing about that is that after this week they have two more series together. One in July after the All-Star break, the other as the penultimate series of the season. That feels like will be a nice break, but just remember the Orioles haven’t played the Blue Jays yet.

When last we saw the Yankees, they were taking three out of four from the Orioles at Camden Yards last week, though the Orioles’ win was the last game in the series. That, combined with the series win against the Rays, means that the Orioles have won three of their last four games. When the Yankees left Baltimore they went home to New York for a series with the White Sox where they lost two out of three. That means the Yankees have lost three out of their last four!

None of that means anything in the grand scheme of things, but it sure sounds good, doesn’t it? The Orioles are on an upswing AND they now have Adley Rutschman on the team. Could this mean a series win in New York? (Ok, probably not. But if it does, remember I said it first!)

Game 1: Monday, May 23rd - 7:05 ET

RHP Jordan Lyles (8 GS, 4.11 ERA / 3.88 FIP) vs RHP Gerrit Cole (8 GS, 2.89 ERA / 3.14 FIP)

Jordan Lyles has been better than expected so far this year, but that doesn’t mean he’s much of a match for Gerrit Cole. Lyles has made three of his eight starts so far against the Yankees. It’s been mixed results, but actually not all that bad. One start was a disaster with six runs allowed in under five innings. But the other two weren’t bad: 1 run in 5.1 IP and 3 R (2 earned) in 7 IP.

Fun fact: In his career, Aaron Judge is 0-for-8 with a walk and four strikeouts against Lyles.

Cole has only faced the Orioles once this year, last week on May 18th (vs Lyles) and gave up two runs in seven innings with five strikeouts. I expect at least the same or better from Cole tonight. If I’m wrong I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Game 2: Tuesday, May 24th - 7:05 ET

LHP Bruce Zimmermann (8 GS, 3.48 ERA / 3.58 FIP) vs LHP Jordan Montgomery (8 G, 3.35 ERA / 3.69 FIP)

Just like Lyles, Bruce Zimmermann has already faced the Yankees three times this season. The AL East is no joke! Zimmermann has been a pleasant surprise this season but he has struggled with the Yankees. After a good first start that saw him shut out the Yankees over five innings, he gave up 4 runs in 4.1 in the second start and 5 runs in 5 innings last week. Hopefully he’ll get his form back in the fourth start of the season.

Lefty Jordan Montgomery has been good for a 3.04 ERA against the Orioles in his career, a span of 15 starts. In three starts against them this year, he’s given up five runs in 15.2 innings. Trey Mancini has the most at-bats on the team against Montgomery and has had good success: 11-for-29 with a home run and four walks.

Game 3: Wednesday, May 25th - 7:05 ET

RHP Tyler Wells (8 GS, 4.41 ERA / 4.32 FIP) vs TBD

Wells missed the Yankees last time around but was pretty good against them earlier in the year. He remains on pitch count that keeps him from going very deep into games, but have given up two runs in nine innings combined in his two starts against the Yankees this year. We’ll have to see if the Yankees sluggers will jump all over him now that they’ve seen him a few times this year.

The Yankees are going TBD with this one. Their rotation is a little out of sorts due to a postponement on Friday and a doubleheader yesterday so it remains to be seen if they’ll go with a bullpen game. Luis Severino and Jameson Taillon both pitched yesterday and Nestor Cortes started on Saturday. So we’ll see!