In a reversal from most seasons, the Baltimore Orioles enter Sunday leading the American League East while the New York Yankees are in last place in the division and in need of a road win to build momentum as the trade deadline approaches.
New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles (-125, 9)
For the Yankees to build that momentum, they could use a good start from pitcher Luis Severino, who has allowed at least three runs in seven of his nine starts since the beginning of June, posting a 7.74 ERA and 6.98 fielding independent in this skid with 2.7 home runs and 3.8 walks per nine innings allowed.
Severino is backed up by a Yankees bullpen that has the best ERA in the league, but the Orioles are not far behind, ranking sixth in the league entering the weekend and the Orioles have the better offense.
While reigning MVP Aaron Judge has returned for the Yankees from a toe injury, it’s unclear how close to 100 percent he is and since he left the team’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 3, the offense hasn’t been the same.
In 43 games entering Saturday since the injury to Judge’s toe, Yankees are 28th in the league in runs per game with 3.8 and their .218 batting average is the worst among all 30 MLB teams in that span.
The Orioles entered the weekend 10th in the league in runs per game with just over 4.8 per game while ranking 13th in the league in home runs per at-bay and will look to provide enough offense to guide starting pitcher Dean Kremer to victory.
For the season. Kremer has a 10-4 record with a 4.59 ERA and 4.95 fielding independent with the elevated fielding independent stemming from his 1.7 home runs per nine innings allowed.
Kremer enters pitching as well as he has all season, allowing one run each in three of his past four starts with one of those starts coming at Yankee Stadium, when he helped the team get a 6-3 win on July 5, allowing one run in seven innings in that start.
The Orioles are on a four-game winning streak in games started by Kremer and are 12-3 in his starts since the calendar flipped to May, a streak that will continue on Sunday.
The Play: Orioles -125