Orioles, Yankees stumble into AL East showdown series

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles have quite a bit in common.

Not all of it is good recently, but the teams open a three-game series in Baltimore on Friday owning two of the top four records in the major leagues.

The Orioles are in first place in the American League East, two games ahead of the second-place Yankees.

Still, Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said, "We've got to play a lot better going forward."

The Yankees have been in a freefall, losing 18 of their past 25 games. Yet they could hold the division lead by the All-Star break pending the outcome of the weekend series.

"We got to take care of our own house," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "We've got to get going in the right direction right now. That's kind of where the focus is."

The Orioles are coming off losing three in a row at home to the Chicago Cubs, a series that concluded with an 8-0 rout on Thursday.

"We just didn't do a whole lot of anything this series," Hyde said.

Baltimore was shut out in each of the final two games of the series, going a combined 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

The Yankees lost two of three games this week at Tampa Bay, including a 5-4 setback against the Rays on Thursday. New York was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position until there were two outs in the ninth inning, but Ben Rice's RBI single wasn't enough.

New York hasn't won any of its last eight series, going 0-7-1.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is 2-for-15 across the past four games and hasn't homered in his past eight games.

"We've got to be able to pick him up on certain nights, too," Boone said.

The scheduled Friday starting pitchers both sport ERAs north of 6.00.

Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole (1-1, 6.75 ERA) is set for his fifth start after beginning the season on the injured list. The six-time All-Star and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has lasted between four and five innings in each of his outings this season.

Cole made his first appearance of the year on June 19 at home against the Orioles, and he yielded two runs on three hits in four innings. He is 5-3 with a 2.64 ERA in 13 career starts vs. Baltimore.

Rookie left-hander Cade Povich (1-3, 6.51), coming off a disastrous start, is in line to start for the Orioles. He worked one-plus inning and was charged with eight runs on five hits and three walks in a loss to the Oakland A's on Saturday.

Last month in his third career game, Povich logged 4 2/3 innings and gave up one run on one hit while striking out five against the Yankees on June 19. Baltimore won that game 7-6 in 10 innings in New York.

The Orioles had good news off the field on Thursday when Anthony Santander was added to the AL All-Star roster as a replacement for Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker (shin). That gives Baltimore five selections for next week's showcase.

"This guy has been with us through this whole path and it's awesome to see him get recognition, and it's going to be fun watching him on national TV," Hyde said.

--Field Level Media