Yankees at Orioles
The New York Yankees are 20 games over .500 at the earliest point of a season since 1998, thanks to a red-hot stretch that has seen them win 28 of 36 games after getting off to a 9-9 start. With one-third of the season over, the visiting Yankees are on pace for 111 wins as they go for a three-game sweep of the struggling Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
While Gleyber Torres deservedly gets much of the ink among New York's emerging young stars, Miguel Andujar is carving out a niche of his own, hitting safely in 16 of his last 19 games following a homer and three RBIs in Saturday's 8-5 victory. Giancarlo Stanton went deep for the first time since May 19 with a two-run blast as the Yankees extended their winning streak to four and sent Baltimore to its seventh consecutive defeat. The Orioles already have five losing streaks of at least five games and will look to avoid their longest slide of the season in the series finale. Manny Machado swatted one of three solo homers for Baltimore on Saturday, his 18th of the year and eighth versus New York since the start of the 2017 season.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, YES (New York), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Domingo Germán (0-3, 5.45 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Alex Cobb (1-7, 6.80)
German gave up an early three-run homer but otherwise acquitted himself well in his fourth start of the season Monday, giving up four runs (three earned) over 5 2/3 innings against reigning World Series champion Houston. He also lost his previous start at Texas, getting pounded for six runs over 3 2/3 innings. German faced the Orioles in relief on April 8, allowing three runs and three hits over 2 2/3 innings.
Cobb also is coming off a loss despite a strong performance in his last start, pitching a season-high seven innings and permitting three runs on five hits. Despite the horrid record, it was the fourth quality start in the last six outings for Cobb, who has been touched for five homers over the past four starts. He has a long and successful track record versus the Yankees - a 6-4 mark with a 2.99 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Torres, the reigning American League Player of the Week, was named the AL Rookie of the Month on Saturday.
2. Machado is tied with Ted Williams for the second-most homers (20) versus the Yankees by a player age 25 or younger.
3. Yankees CF Aaron Hicks is 5-for-8 with two RBIs and two doubles in the series.