O's game blog: Going for a series sweep at Yankee Stadium

With 5-3 and 9-7 wins the last two nights at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles can sweep their three-game series at New York tonight.

The Orioles (88-70) have four games left in the regular season and a series at Minnesota beginning tomorrow night.

They have five sweeps this year of at least three games, but none since early June. They swept three at Boston April 9-11, versus Minnesota April 15-17 and at Cincinnati May 3-5. Their past two sweeps are four-game sweeps at the Chicago White Sox May 23-26 and at Tampa Bay June 7-10.

In going 8-4 this season against the Yankees, the Orioles have a team ERA of 3.75 allowing a .698 OPS in the 12 games. The O's batters score 5.08 runs per game with a .754 OPS.

In going 4-1 at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles have scored 40 runs with a .320 batting average and .908 OPS.

In this series, Aaron Judge is 3-for-7 with two homers. On the year he is 10-for-31 against the Orioles with five homers and nine RBIs with 11 walks and eight strikeouts. Juan Soto is 3-for-8 with a homer this series. This year against the Orioles he is 14-for-46 with three homers, eight RBIs, eight walks and 10 strikeouts.

The Orioles scored 24 runs in a 12-game span recently. Since they they have scored 33 runs the last six games with an .801 OPS.

In three games since returning from the injured list, Jordan Westburg is 4-for-12 with a double and two RBIs.

The Orioles led off the game last night with six straight singles, doing so for the first time in team history. With that victory, the Orioles ended a five-series losing streak.

The Orioles have won four of six games. But over longer stretches, they are 30-32 since the All-Star game and 35-39 since July 1.

Tonight features a marquee pitching of right-hander Corbin Burnes (15-8, 2.95 ERA) against right-hander Gerrit Cole (7-5, 3.67 ERA).

Burnes is the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner. Since 2020 he has finished sixth, first, seventh and eighth for this award. Cole is the 2023 American League Cy Youg Award winner. Since 2018 he has finished fifth, second, fourth, second, ninth and first for the award.

Burnes has thrown back-to-back scoreless starts of seven innings versus the Detroit Tigers. He allowed five hits in the 14 innings with four walks and 15 strikeouts. He is 3-2 with a 1.20 ERA his past five starts. Burnes has 22 quality starts and has allowed two earned runs or less 21 times. The Orioles are 20-11 in his 31 outings.

On May 1, Burnes allowed two runs in six innings against the Yankees. He is 0-1 with a 1.29 ERA in two career starts against them. In 10 starts this year in division games, he is 5-3 with a 2.87 ERA.

Cole began the season on the 60-day IL with right elbow inflammation. He was recalled from a minor league rehab stint June 19 for his season debut and that came versus the Orioles. He is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two 2024 starts versus Baltimore and in his career is 6-3 with a 2.57 ERA and 0.947 WHIP in 14 starts.

In four September games, Cole allowed one, zero, seven and one earned run. He gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 two starts ago versus Boston. 

The Orioles, by winning last night, have clinched a winning record at Yankee Stadium for the second year in a row. It's the first time they've done that since three in a row 1970-1972. They went 4-3 last year and are 4-1 there this year. Prior to 1972 and before these two seasons, they posted a better than .500 record in the Bronx every year from 1965-1968 per Stats Perform.