O's game blog: Bundy on mound in series opener (O's lose 8-2)

Will the Orioles get at least one hit tonight with a runner in scoring position? If they do it will be the first hit with RISP that New York Yankees pitching has given up this month.

Over the seven games in June, Yankee opponents are 0-for-35 with RISP. According to Elias Sports, opponents are 0-for-their-last-36 overall with RISP dating back to May 31 at Baltimore. That is the team's longest streak of hitless at-bats with RISP in the Expansion Era (since 1961) and the majors' longest streak since Houston pitchers had an 0-for-39 Aug. 22-29, 2015.

For the season, the Orioles lead the American League with a team average of .304 with RISP, while Yankee pitchers rank second-best in lowest RISP average allowed, at .227. The Orioles are sixth at .243.

New York leads the American League East at 34-23 and begins play tonight three games ahead of Boston and 3 1/2 up on the Orioles. New York's .596 win percentage ranks second in the AL and fifth-best in the majors. New York is 13-14 since it began the year 21-9 through 30 games.

The Yankees, who are 19-9 at home, have a plus-85 run differential that ranks second in the major leagues. Boston beat the Yankees 5-4 Tuesday night to start a three-game series. But New York won the next two games by 8-0 and 9-1 scores.

AL East records in division-only play:
.618 - Orioles (21-13)
.567 - New York (17-13)
.464 - Boston (13-15)
.448 - Tampa Bay (13-16)
.379 - Toronto (11-18)

Orioles pitchers have given up 29 runs over the last five games and 58 in the past 11. Tonight they try to slow a New York offense that is averaging 5.53 runs per game to lead the American League.

The Orioles have gone 5-4 this season against New York, including a 1-2 mark at Yankee Stadium. The O's are 10-6 in the last 16 games between the teams since last Aug. 28.

O's right-hander Dylan Bundy (6-4, 2.93 ERA) has made 10 quality starts among his 12 outings this season. But one that was not a QS was his most recent start, on Saturday at home versus Boston, when he allowed two runs over five innings.

In eight starts this season against AL East teams, Bundy is 5-2 with a 2.09 ERA and the Orioles are 6-2. In 26 career games (15 starts) against the AL East, he has gone 8-6 with a 3.95 ERA. Bundy has allowed two earned runs or less nine times and the Orioles are 7-5 in his 12 starts this season. Bundy has made one start in 2017 against New York. He got the win on May 29, allowing seven hits and two runs over seven innings, throwing 95 pitches.

Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (3-4, 3.67 ERA) makes his 11th start for the Yankees. Over his past three starts he is 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA and is coming off his first scoreless start of the year. Saturday against Toronto he pitched six innings and gave up just three hits.

Lefty batters are hitting just .172 off him and right-handed hitters are batting .243. He is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts versus Baltimore this year, and the Yankees are 4-6 in his games.

O's lose series opener: Bundy gave the Orioles another quality start tonight, allowing three runs over six innings. He left the game behind 3-2 but it got away from the Orioles bullpen, and the final was New York 8-2 tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Edwin Jackson and Stefan Crichton combined to allow five runs over two innings with New York scoring three in the seventh and two in the eighth to pull away. That was after Aaron Hicks first of two homers broke a 2-2 tie in the last of the sixth.

The Orioles fall to 31-28 and drop to 4 1/2 games back of the first-place Yankees. The Orioles are 10-18 on the road where their losing streak has reached seven games. They are 1-11 in their last 12 on the road.

The O's offense got a two-run homer from Jonathan Schoop that provided a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but they didn't score after that. They were held to five hits and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Yankees pitchers have held their opponents to 0-for-41 with runners in scoring position in eight games this month.

In the second game of this series on Saturday night, right-handers take the mound, with Chris Tillman (1-3, 5.59 ERA) facing Luis Severino (4-2, 2.90 ERA).