Orioles at Yankees
Alex Rodriguez has been one of the biggest surprises for the New York Yankees and among the primary reasons why they sit atop the American League East. Rodriguez hit his 661st homer to surpass Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list in Thursday's 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles and looks to guide the Yankees to a second straight victory Friday in the second contest of a four-game series versus the visiting Orioles.
Rodriguez, who was suspended all of last year for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, drew a curtain call Thursday from the same fans who booed him on Opening Day. "I thought the days of curtain calls for me were long gone," Rodriguez told the media following his milestone blast. Baltimore has scored only six runs while dropping the first three games of its six-game trek against the Mets and Yankees. Jimmy Paredes hit a solo homer to extend his hitting streak to six games.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Miguel Gonzalez (3-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Adam Warren (2-1, 4.78)
Gonzalez is coming off a superb outing, blanking Tampa Bay on four hits over a season-high 7 2/3 innings Saturday to push his winning streak to three games. He went 1-0 in his previous two outings - both against Boston - despite allowing seven runs in 11 innings, with the bulk of the scoring resulting from three home runs. Gonzalez struck out 10 and allowed one run in seven innings April 14 to improve to 3-3 versus the Yankees.
Warren earned the victory at Boston last time out despite permitting four runs over 5 2/3 innings - the third straight outing in which he went 5 2/3 frames and the third time in four turns he allowed four runs. The 27-year-old had his best performance versus Tampa Bay on April 27, striking out a season-high six while yielding one run. Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is 3-for-4 lifetime against Warren.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury is 21-for-42 during a 10-game hitting streak.
2. Orioles 1B Chris Davis struck out four times Thursday, pushing his season total to a major league-most 44.
3. LHP Andrew Miller joined Mariano Rivera (2008) as the only New York pitchers to start a season with 14 straight games with zero runs and one hit or fewer allowed.