Yankees at Orioles
The New York Yankees emerged from the weekend in first place in the American League East after taking two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees will try to pad their lead when they visit the team at the bottom of the standings - the Baltimore Orioles - for the opener of a four-game series on Monday.
New York and Tampa Bay battled down to the wire in one-run games on Friday and Saturday but the Yankees managed to take the drama out of it a little earlier on Sunday, when they drew five walks during a seven-run rally in the sixth and cruised to a 13-5 triumph. Brett Gardner had two hits in the rally and homered earlier in the game, but the most encouraging at-bats came from center fielder Aaron Hicks, who hit his first homer of the season and drew two walks in his best game since coming off the injured list on Wednesday. The Orioles (15-31) are heading home after a 1-5 road trip which began with a doubleheader loss at Yankee stadium on Thursday and ended with a 10-0 shutout at Cleveland on Sunday in which they managed five hits and totaled 15 strikeouts. Baltimore will try to bounce back on Monday behind right-hander Andrew Cashner while the Yankees counter with lefty J.A. Happ.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, YES (New York), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees LH J.A. Happ (3-3, 4.44 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Andrew Cashner (4-2, 4.10)
Happ failed to complete six innings in any of his last three outings but earned the win in the last two, including a victory over Baltimore on Wednesday. The 36-year-old got the start in the first game of the doubleheader and surrendered three runs on five hits - two homers - in 5 1/3 innings before four relievers combined to lock down the victory. Happ is already making his fourth start of the season against the Orioles and went 1-1 with a 5.93 ERA in the first three chances.
Cashner got the start in the second game of the doubleheader on Wednesday and scattered two runs and four hits across six innings but came away with the loss in a game Baltimore went on to lose 3-1. The veteran Texan surrendered three or fewer earned runs in seven of his nine starts, including the last two turns. Cashner's worst start of 2019 came on opening day at New York, when he was ripped for six runs on as many hits in four frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees LHP James Paxton (knee) threw his third bullpen session on Sunday and is scheduled for one more on Tuesday.
2. Baltimore 1B Chris Davis and LF Dwight Smith Jr. combined to go 0-for-8 with eight strikeouts on Sunday.
3. New York 3B Gio Urshela (knee) left Sunday's game and is day-to-day.