New York @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Aug 28, 2011 ) NY Yankees 8, Baltimore 3
THE STORY: The New York Yankees showed off the best and worst of their all-or-nothing offense in Sunday’s doubleheader split against the host Baltimore Orioles. After being blanked 2-0 in the opener by rookie Zach Britton, New York launched five home runs to erase an early deficit en route to an 8-3 rout in the nightcap. The Yankees will be looking to build some momentum in Monday’s series finale before they head to Boston for a crucial three-game series with the American League East-leading Red Sox. New York trails Boston by two games but has the Tampa Bay Rays lurking 6 1/2 games back in the wild card hunt.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, YES, MASN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.16 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Alfredo Simon (4-6, 4.30 ERA).
Garcia will come off the 15-day disabled list to make his first start since Aug. 7. He has been out after slicing his right index finger while cooking. The 34-year-old Garcia is 3-0 in his last four outings, allowing a total of six runs in that span. He defeated the Orioles on July 31, allowing two runs in six innings, and tossed six innings of scoreless ball against them in April.
Simon had his best start last time out, limiting the Minnesota Twins to one run on three hits in eight innings. That halted an ugly three-game stretch during which he was tagged for 16 runs and 29 hits in 15 2/3 innings. Simon has surrendered five homers in his last four starts. He served up homers to Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher in his only start versus the Yankees in 2009.
ABOUT THE ORIOLES (53-78): Considering that Sunday’s two starters had one win between them since mid-June, Baltimore had to be content with a split of the doubleheader. J.J. Hardy had an RBI single in the opener and a pair of hits in the nightcap to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Mark Reynolds stretched his hitting streak to eight games, but Nolan Reimold and Matt Wieters each saw their seven-game streaks come to a halt. Baltimore will be looking to notch back-to-back series wins for the first time since May 20-26 (Washington, Kansas City).
ABOUT THE YANKEES (79-52): Curtis Granderson continued to enhance his MVP credentials by bashing a pair of homers and driving in four runs in the nightcap. He now leads the major leagues in home runs (37) and RBIs (107). Robinson Cano, Swisher and Andruw Jones joined in the homer parade by going back-to-back-to back. It marked the first time the Yankees had swatted three straight homers since May 20, 2009 – also against the Orioles. Swisher’s blast was his fifth in six games and gave him seven consecutive 20-homer seasons. Teixeira went 5-for-8 in the twin bill and needs one RBI for his eighth straight season with 100.
FINAL PITCH: The Yankees could be without the left side of their infield for the second straight game. SS Derek Jeter and 3B Alex Rodriguez are expected to sit out Monday’s game. Jeter fouled a ball off his right knee and Rodriguez is battling a sore thumb.