O's game blog: The series finale in the Bronx

Will Renato Núñez and Trey Mancini lead the Orioles to a win today in the series finale against the New York Yankees? They'll be facing a Yankees pitcher who has struggled recently and one they have hit very well this year.

Lefty J.A. Happ (9-7, 5.48 ERA) gets the start for the Yankees. Over his past two starts he has allowed 10 runs in 10 2/3 innings. Over his past four games he is 1-2 with an 8.55 ERA and a 1.004 OPS against, and he's allowed eight homers in 20 innings.

And in four 2019 starts against Baltimore, Happ is 1-1 with a 7.79 ERA, a 1.615 WHIP and seven homers allowed in 17 1/3 innings. This year, Núñez is 4-for-6 against him with three homers and five RBIs. Mancini is 6-for-8 with two doubles, three homers and four RBIs. Hanser Alberto is 5-for-7 with a homer and two RBIs. So those three have combined to hit the seven homers by O's batters off Happ this year.

For the season, Happ's 29 homers allowed put him in a tie for the American League lead. He has a 1.350 WHIP, and for every nine innings pitched, he allows 9.8 hits , 2.2 homers, 2.4 walks and 7.1 strikeouts. Lefty batters hit .282 with an .803 OPS against him, and right-handers bat .273/.841.

Right-hander Dylan Bundy (5-12, 5.04 ERA) is his mound opponent this afternoon, making his 23rd start. Bundy has allowed three earned runs or fewer 16 times, but the Orioles are just 7-15 in his starts. Bundy allowed two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings two starts ago versus Toronto, and two earned runs in six innings against Houston his last time out.

In the first inning of his starts, Bundy allows a 6.55 ERA and .907 OPS against, and the five homers he has yielded in that inning are his most in any inning.

In three starts this year against New York, Bundy is 0-0 with a 6.23 ERA and 1.692 WHIP. In 12 career games (10 starts) he is 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA and 1.662 WHIP while allowing 1.9 homers per nine innings. In 10 road starts this year, Bundy is 4-4 with a 4.39 ERA. He allows 2.07 homers per nine innings at home and 1.69 on the road.

The Orioles (39-81) are 1-8 over their past nine games, which have all come against New York and Houston. They've allowed 92 runs in those games. The O's are 2-16 on the season with 15 straight losses against the Yankees, allowing 60 homers and 145 runs in the 18 games.

New York (80-41) has won 13 of its last 15 games. In winning the first three in this series, the Yankees have scored 27 runs on 35 hits with eight homers. They are a season-high 39 games over the .500 mark and are 46-18 at home and 47-16 versus AL East teams, going 12-2 in its last 14 division games.

A win today would give the Yankees five straight series sweeps versus the Orioles since the O's took two of three at Yankee Stadium in the first series of the year. Since then New York has swept series of three, two, four and three games and is trying to add to that this afternoon.