New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles: Series Preview

After an, uh, “eventful” weekend series against the White Sox, the Yankees will stay in town as the Orioles make the trip up north.

While Baltimore is struggling once again this season, there was a major development over the weekend for them as they called up Adley Rutschman. The catcher is one of, if not the best, prospect in all of baseball and made his debut Saturday night, recording his first hit with a triple. This will be the Yankees’ first up close look at what may be a thorn in their sides for years to come.

Before the Yankees take on Rutschman and the rest of the Orioles, let’s take a look at the pitching matchups for the three-game set.

Monday: Gerrit Cole vs. Jordan Lyles (7:05 PM ET)

Cole will be making his second consecutive start against Baltimore, having allowing two runs in seven innings last Wednesday. It was another addition to his excellent run after struggling a bit in his first three starts. Since April 24th, Cole has a 1.67 ERA, 1.95 FIP, and 39 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.

His opponent will be the man who he faced in that Wednesday start as Lyles will get the ball for Baltimore. The Yankees have already seen Lyles three times this season, and two have been solid, having allowed a combined three earned runs in 12.1 innings in starts on April 15th and May 18th. However in between, the Yankees got him for six runs in 4.2 innings on April 26th. If that pattern holds, the Yankees are due for a good game.

Tuesday: Jordan Montgomery vs. Bruce Zimmermann (7:05 PM ET)

For the first time in seemingly forever, Montgomery got a decent amount of run support in a game he started. The six runs the Yankees scored on Thursday raised their average in Monty started games to just 2.71. Unfortunately, Montgomery himself had maybe his worst start of the season and exited after three runs and five innings against this same Orioles team. While he didn’t take the loss, allowing a home run to Robinson Chirinos is never ideal.

Zimmermann has been the Orioles’ best pitcher so far this season, but the Yankees have been pretty solid against him. They account for half of the 16 earned runs he’s allowed, including five on seven hits when they faced him last Thursday.

Wednesday: TBD vs. Tyler Wells (7:05 PM ET)

After the Friday rainout and playing a doubleheader on Sunday, the Yankees are going to need someone to make a spot start. Nestor Cortes would be next in the normal order, but he went on Saturday and will likely be held off so he can get normal rest and go on Thursday. The man who they called up in this spot a couple weeks ago, Luis Gil, is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, so he’s not an option either. JP Sears is perfectly lined up for Wednesday after 4.2 innings on Friday, so he might be the betting favorite, but who the Yankees actually go with remains to be seen.

After a solid run in late April/early May, Wells has struggled a bit in his last two starts, not getting past the fifth inning in either. In 16.2 innings over the last two seasons, he’s been good against the Yankees with a 3.24 ERA and 17 strikeouts.