Baltimore Orioles

Venue matters as Yankees host Orioles (Jun 09, 2017)

Published Jun. 9, 2017 1:53 a.m. ET

NEW YORK -- For the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees, the venue of their games is significant.

The home team is 6-3 this year and 55-30 since 2013.

The differences have been so stark in recent seasons that, heading into the opener of a three-game series Friday, the Yankees are 12-1 in the last 13 series openers at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles took two of three in two Baltimore series, April 7-9 and May 29-31. The Yankees scored 26 runs in winning the first two games in New York on April 28-29 before a 7-4, 11-inning loss in the series finale.

Regardless of the venue, runs have been abundant when these teams have gotten together this season.

The Yankees are hitting .297 with 18 home runs and 60 runs against the Orioles. Matt Holliday, Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner are hitting a combined .363 in 102 at-bats, with 19 homers, 27 RBIs and 27 runs.

Baltimore is hitting .271 with eight homers and 52 runs scored against the Yankees. Adam Jones, who missed the first two games of the last series because of ankle issues, is batting .419 while Mark Trumbo is hitting .306.

Manny Machado hit a 470-foot homer against CC Sabathia in the last series opener in New York but is 6-for-36 against the Yankees this year. Chris Davis is 7-for-33.

Machado may not play Friday after being diagnosed with a strained left wrist and bruised hand. He was injured Wednesday when Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen spiked him while sliding into third base.

"Though he didn't dodge the slide, it looks like we might have dodged some more extensive damage," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We'll see how it manages initially between now and the game, but we'll see what his availability is as the days go on."

From a pitching standpoint, the Yankees have a 4.95 ERA in the season series while Baltimore has a 6.34 ERA in the first nine meetings.

That number might have been higher if not for Dylan Bundy, who will start Friday. Bundy allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings in a 3-2 victory May 29.

Bundy is 6-4 with a 2.93 ERA after allowing two runs and four hits in five innings of a 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. It was the third straight start the Orioles scored three or fewer for Bundy.

The right-hander threw 100 pitches to a season-low 19 hitters, mostly because of 27 foul balls.

"I was making pitches and they were just fouling off, pitcher's pitches that they were fouling off, and you can't control that," Bundy said. "It was a tough game."

Bundy is 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against the Yankees.

Rookie Jordan Montgomery opposed Bundy in Baltimore and will do so again Friday. The left-hander is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts against the Orioles; he has allowed three runs (one earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

The left-hander followed up the start in Baltimore by allowing three hits in six innings of a 7-0 win at Toronto on Saturday. He is 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA in his last three starts.

"The curve was my best pitch today," Montgomery said. "I got it for strikes and then expanded the zone a little bit and got them to swing over it. I just kind of slowed everything down and started making pitches."

Another difference in the teams is their position in the AL East race. When the Orioles left New York following a marathon win, they were 15-8 and tied for first place with the Yankees.

Since their visit, the Orioles (31-27) are 16-19 while the Yankees (34-23) are 19-15.

The Orioles are 10-17 on the road after striking out 15 times during a 6-1 loss at Washington on Thursday. Davis started for Machado at third and was among five starters to strike out twice.

"We didn't do much with the bats obviously," Showalter said.

The Yankees are 5-5 as they wind down a stretch of 13 games against divisional opponents. They rebounded from a 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday by scoring 17 times in the next two wins.

Gary Sanchez homered twice while Judge had three hits. The Yankees slugged three homers and have homered in 44 games while totaling 90.

"I think at times we've had some struggles, but we've bounced back," manager Joe Girardi said. "I think this club is resilient. I think a big portion of this club is we're hitting home runs and we're scoring runs in bunches and allowing our pitchers to relax and do their thing."