Yankees at Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles were cruising along in first place in the American League East and sat 22-10 after a home win over Beltway rival Washington on May 9, but things have changed quickly. The Orioles will try to snap a seven-game slide and win for the fourth time in the last 17 games when they host the AL East-leading New York Yankees in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.
Baltimore totaled nine runs in its last five games and is in the midst of a brutal stretch of schedule that saw them drop three in a row to AL Central-leading Minnesota before being swept by AL West-leading Houston over the weekend, and it will now host the Yankees and Boston Red Sox - the two teams in front of the Orioles in the East - over the next seven games. At least Baltimore can point to a modest turnaround with the bats in Sunday's finale, in which Jonathan Schoop homered in an 8-4 setback. The Yankees used Baltimore's struggles to jump into first in the East and continue to be carried by rookie sensation Aaron Judge, who belted a grand slam in Sunday's 9-5 win over Oakland to move into a tie for first place in the majors in home runs with 16. Judge is 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts in his career against Orioles righty Dylan Bundy, who gets the start on Monday opposite rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, YES (New York), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees LH Jordan Montgomery (2-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Dylan Bundy (5-3, 2.92)
Montgomery is coming off the best start of his rookie campaign and limited Kansas City to one run on two hits without walking a batter and striking out six in 6 2/3 innings on Tuesday. The South Carolina native did not factor in the decision in that one but snapped a sting of back-to-back losses, during which he allowed nine runs in 11 frames. Montgomery got the start against Baltimore on April 30 and was reached for three runs on three hits and four walks in five innings without earning a decision.
Bundy is trying to snap a string of three straight winless outings and was the tough-luck loser against Minnesota on Tuesday. The 24-year-old allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings but came out on the wrong end of a 2-0 final score. Bundy missed the Yankees the first two times the teams met this season and went 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in four games - two starts - against the division rivals last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Orioles CF Adam Jones (hip, ankle) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
2. New York 3B Chase Headley sat out the last two games but is expected back on Monday.
3. Baltimore 1B Chris Davis is 2-for-26 with 14 strikeouts in the last seven games.