The New York Yankees will bet on ace Gerrit Cole to get a win tonight when he takes the mound for the Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Yesterday with no regular pitchers available because of all the doubleheaders, the Yankee split a doubleheader with the Orioles. The Yankees have been traditionally dominant over the Orioles. But this season the Orioles are playing better than last year when they were second to the last place in all of baseball. The Yankees on the other hand have been struggling the last few weeks, in a season that doesn’t allow down periods.
The New York Yankees are now third in the East Division, tied with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Tampa Bay Rays (.692) are leading the East, with the Philadelphia Phillies now in second place (.559). The Yankees and Blue Jays are tied for third place with a .552 winning percentage. This is important, as at the end of the season the winning percentage will be used to determine postseason placement, not the number of wins a team has. It’ important for the Yankee to take this Oriole series as they will meet up with the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo, following this series. The winner of that series will likely determine who retains third place and who drops to fourth in the East Division.
This is a scary time for Yankee fans as their pitchers don’t see to be able to pitch, and their hitters lack hitting. The Yankees after starting the season on an 8-1 tear have fallen off dramatically. Any reasonable fan would have to assume this is due to all the Yankees injuries, that are eclipsing last year’s record injuries. The Yankees in their last 16 games have lost 11 of them. Other teams like the Rays have gone 8-2 in their last 10, and the Jays playing similarly well at 7-3.
Tonight at 7:35 pm the Yankees will hope Cole can give them the win, but even that is under question as Gerrit Cole is not the same pitcher we saw with the Houston Astros, last year. Cole has struggled in many of his games, while racking up pitch counts over 100, but not pitching very deeply into games. Coles’s lack of dominance is concerning to the Yankees, as they have lost the last three of his starts in a row. In a game against the Rays, he threw 109 pitches and only pitched 6.1 innings. He in his last two starts didn’t get past the fifth inning but still threw over 100 pitches. The Yankees hope he can turn it around tonight and go deep, as their bullpen is depleted and desperately need the win.
Another problem with Cole is that he is giving up home runs, lot’s of them. He has given up a home run in every game he has pitched. He’s given up seven long balls in his last three games. Cole this year, is allowing 1.5 more runs per game than last year. Of course, another problem for Cole, for which he has no control, is that he is not getting the run support with the lukewarm Yankee hitting. Cole is 4-2 across eight starts with a 3.91 ERA.
Cole will face lefty Keegan Akin who is 0-0 with a 3.52 ERA. Keegan is a rookie and rated as Baltimore’s number 15 prospect, according to the MLB Pipeline. This will be Akin’s second start of the season. In his first start, he struck out six in 4.1 innings against the Blue Jays. He has also pitched in relief against the Washington Nationals and the Tampa Bay Rays. In those two games, he pitched 3.1 innings giving up three earned runs, while only striking out one hitter.
After tonight’s game, the New York Yankees will have a finale matinee on Sunday. The Yankees Masahiro Tanaka will face Asher Wojciechowski.
Yankee Injury Update:
The New York Yankees don’t seem to be able to escape the injury bug. There is some good news, yesterday while the Yankees were playing in Baltimore, Aaron judge was seen working out at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are hoping he can return to the lineup within the next week or two. Gleyber Torres has been reactivated , and is in Baltimore with the team, he may be in the lineup today or tomorrow.
James Paxton is still at least a week away from a return, the Yankees hope he can get in two starts before the postseason. There is no timetable for the return of Giancarlo Stanton, who has been nursing a hamstring injury. With every bit of positive injury news that comes the Yankee’s way, they get equally disturbing news. Just in the last two days, they have put Jonathan Loaisiga on the IL, for an undisclosed non-coronavirus illness, and he is recovering at home. The very hot Gio Urshela has bone spurs in his elbow, which caused him to go on the injury list. These injuries are in addition to the loss of Luis Severino and Tommy Kahnle that have both had Tommy John surgery. All of these injuries are concerning, but with only three weeks left in the season, they will play a big part in the success or failure of the Yankees.