The New York Yankees tonight will hope to come back from an embarrassing loss last night against the New York Mets, and going 10-6 in their last sixteen starts. The Yankees will travel today to Baltimore, to Camden Yards where they normally play well, for a late afternoon and night doubleheader. Game one will start at the unusual time of 5:05 pm, with the second game following 30 minutes after completion of the first game.
The Yankees have not released the names of any of the four starters in the series at the time of this writing. In the doubleheader this evening, the Yankee fans will most likely see Deivi Garcia and Jonathan Loaisiga. Saturday should be Gerrit Cole with Masahiro Tanaka following on Sunday. Jordan Montgomery will likely start the first game in Buffalo with the Blue Jays.
This evening the Baltimore weather should be just fine for two baseball games, with a zero chance of rain or pop up showers. Game time temperature for the game will be in the mid-’80s, with mostly sunny skies. It will be slightly cooler for game two, but the skies will remain clear. In fact, similar weather will be had for the Saturday and Sunday games as well. The games will be telecast on the YES Network and MASN in Baltimore.
In game one, the New York Yankees will face the Orioles Alex Cobb. Cobb is 1-3 with an ERA of 4.33. This will be the first time this season that Cobb will pitch to the Yankees. Back at the end of the 2017 season, the Yankees were interesting in the Ray’s free agent Alex Cobb, but Cobb went with the Baltimore Orioles. He didn’t pitch very well with the Orioles, but on August 1, 2018, Cobb beat the Yankees in a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, snapping a nine-start winless stretch. In 2019 due to injuries he only pitched in three games. So far this year in seven starts, he has given up 5 home runs, with 12 walks while striking out 24. Gio Urshela is 2 for 2 off Cobb.
UPDATE!
Alex Cobb has been scratched from game one. The starter will now be Thomas Eshelman who is 3-0 with an EAR of 3.48. Eshelman is a reliever that has started two games of the Orioles. He does not go deep into games. In his six starts, he averages 3.2 innings per game. He has a combined five strikeouts in his last three games while giving up a home run in each game. In a March 8th spring training game Eshelman threw one pitch that hurt him. With one out in the Yankees’ second, first baseman Luke Voit hit the first pitch out to right for a homer.
In game two the Yankees will face Jorge Lopez, who has been a reliever for the Orioles but was recently made a starter. He made his first start against the Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings in a game Baltimore lost 6-5. The Orioles have lost every game that Lopez has pitched in. Brett Gardner, in five at-bats against Lopez, has batted .600. Mike Tauchman and Mike Ford have also played well off the righty that has a 7.53 ERA this season.
Deivi Garcia pitched masterfully in his major league debut. In the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets, Deivi Garcia made his major league debut for the Yankees. An unintimidating figure on the mound, Garcia showed the complete confidence of a much older veteran. He backed that up with a one, two, three first inning. He struck out the side in the third. He ended up his major league debut pitching six innings on 75 pitches, allowing four singles, no earned runs, no walks, and had six strikeouts in a no-decision debut.
Jonathan Loaisiga has pitched in eight games this year for the New York Yankees, three of them starts caused by the Yankees lack of starting pitchers. In those eight games, he has pitched to a very respectable 3.18 ERA. He has been with the Yankees for three years now, going back and forth from the minors to the majors, and has improved each year. This is only my personal opinion, but I feel if Loaisiga was stretched out, he could make a fine option for a fifth spot in the rotation.
After the Yankees went 2-8 off the Tampa Bay Rays and have gone 10-6 in their last sixteen starts need to win these two games tonight. They also lost a game against the Mets last night, and have slipped to being tied for second place in the East Division with the Blue Jays. The Yankees no longer have to look over their shoulders at the Jays, as they are right there. The Jays have been playing well of late, as the Yankees have not. The Yankees would love to sweep the Orioles, but must at least take the series, as they face the Jays next week in Buffalo.