Yankees at Orioles
After seeing their offense limp out of the gate, the New York Yankees have gone deep three times in back-to-back contests to share the majo league lead in homers (12) with the Baltimore Orioles. The visiting Yankees look to continue to flex their muscle and vie for a third straight victory when they continue their three-game series versus their AL East rival on Tuesday.
Stephen Drew has homered in consecutive contests - including a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning of New York's 6-5 victory in the series opener on Monday. Maryland native Mark Teixeira also went deep and has three homers and four RBIs during his five-game hitting streak, but is 0-for-9 with four strikeouts against Tuesday starter Miguel Gonzalez. Adam Jones wasn't left out of Monday's fireworks, going deep for the third time in four contests and is a blistering 10-for-14 with seven RBIs and as many runs scored in that span. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the high-octane offense hasn't resulted in victories as the team has dropped four of its last five contests to fall into a tie with the Yankees in the AL East basement.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, YES (New York), MASN2 (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees LH CC Sabathia (0-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. Orioles LH Miguel Gonzalez (0-1, 1.59)
Making his first start since coming off right knee surgery in July, Sabathia sputtered out of the blocks in 2015 - yielding five runs on eight hits - all singles - in 5 2/3 innings versus Toronto on Thursday. The 34-year-old benefited from good location on his fastball and slider to strike out eight before departing. Sabathia has routinely flustered Baltimore in his career, posting an 18-6 mark with a 3.34 ERA.
Despite permitting just one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings, Gonzalez struggled with his control en route to suffering a hard-luck defeat in his first start of the season on Wednesday. The 30-year-old Mexican walked five - including his last two batters - before reliever Brian Matusz ultimately issued a free pass that brought home the lone run of the contest against Tampa Bay. Gonzalez also pitched well in his last meeting with New York, yielding a homer among his three hits over six innings to fall to 2-3 in his career against the Yankees.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York 3B Alex Rodriguez, who sat out in the series opener, has four homers and eight RBIs in his last 10 games at Camden Yards.
2. Baltimore LF Alejandro De Aza has hit safely in all six contests this season, but is just 1-for-7 with two strikeouts in his career versus Sabathia.
3. X-rays were negative on the right wrist of Yankees LF Brett Gardner, who was hit by a pitch from Orioles LHP Wei-Yin Chen on Monday. Gardner's availability for Tuesday's game is unknown.