The New York Yankees look to salvage a split of their four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. The Orioles won Tuesday’s game behind a pair of home runs from Manny Machado. However, the New York Yankees are -140 over Baltimore on Wednesday.
Despite owning the third-most wins in baseball, the Yankees have fallen 3.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. New York is 3-3 in its last six games, but that’s been enough to fall a few games behind with the Red Sox winning eight in a row. That doesn’t give the Yankees much margin for error if they want to avoid falling further behind.
Of course, the Orioles are going nowhere fast. They are tied with the Royals for the fewest number of wins in the majors. Baltimore had also lost six in a row before beating the Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday.
Fighting For A Spot
The Yankees will send Sonny Gray to the mound on Wednesday night. There is some speculation that Gray is close to losing his spot in the starting rotation, especially if the Yankees trade for a starter. Gray has had a rough season, going 5-7 with a 5.85 ERA in 17 starts, and things are only getting worse. Over his last two starts, Gray has allowed 11 runs over just 4.1 innings, so he needs a bounce-back outing in the worst way.
On the bright side, Gray has faced the Orioles twice this season and earned a win both times. While pitching in Baltimore in early June, Gray allowed just one run on four hits over six innings, a performance he’d love to replicate on Wednesday. That being said, Gray still has poor career numbers against the likes of Machado, Caleb Joseph, Tim Beckham, and Jonathan Schoop, so there’s no guarantee he’ll find a way to get back on track.
Bouncing Back
Baltimore’s start for Wednesday’s game, Dylan Bundy, is also in need of a bounce-back performance. In his last start, Bundy gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits over 3.1 innings. That was after he posted a 1.98 ERA during the month of June, so it could be an aberration. Of course, the Yankees are not the team you want to face coming off a bad outing, as they can smell blood in the water.
Somehow, Bundy is yet to face the Yankees this year. He has decent numbers against most of New York’s top hitters, although he still has limited experience against most of them. Bundy will get a little break with both Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres on the DL. But the middle of New York’s lineup is still capable of doing serious damage if Bundy doesn’t have a good night.
What A Surprise
It’s hard to envision the Orioles taking three out of four games from the Yankees. But at this point, Bundy seems more likely to have a strong performance than Gray. That’s not enough to guarantee a Baltimore win. However, the Yankees have lost four of their last five games when Gray has started. Take a chance and take the Baltimore Orioles +140 over the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
