O's game blog: Game 3 of the series against New York

The Orioles and New York Yankees have split the first two games of their series at Oriole Park. The Orioles (10-13) host New York (10-13) tonight in the third game of their four-game series and this seven-game homestand.

The Yankees won 5-1 last night as right-hander Corey Kluber allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings. New York hit three solo homers with Aaron Judge (No. 5), Kyle Higashioka (No. 4) and Giancarlo Stanton (No. 6) connecting. Of the 12 hardest-hit balls in the game last night, Yankees batters produced 11 of them. Judge hit his homer 116 mph and Stanton blasted his 114 mph.

The Yankees, who snapped a four-game losing streak in Baltimore, improved to 6-6 on the road, 6-11 versus the American League East and 3-2 against the Orioles.

The Orioles fell to 3-9 at home and to 8-7 when they face a right-handed starting pitcher.

The Orioles went only 1-for-8 batting with runners scoring position and they are 1-for-17 in the series with RISP. They are 6-for-46 with RISP over the last six games.

Right-hander Dean Kremer (0-1, 6.75 ERA) has been recalled from the alternate site to make his fourth start. After posting an ERA of 10.50 to start the season, Kremer had his best outing in his last game on April 17 at Texas. He allowed five hits and one run over 4 2/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts on 79 pitches. In that game, he threw his four-seam fastball 50 times, ranging from 92 to 94 mph and he added 20 curveballs.

Lefty batters have hit .368 this season off Kremer with an OPS of 1.172. Right-handers have hit .292/.704.

Kremer is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in three career starts versus New York, with the first two starts of his career coming versus the Yankees last season. In those games, he went a combined 11 innings, allowing five hits and two runs with six walks and 14 strikeouts. This year, he faced the Yankees on April 6 in New York and took a loss. Over three innings, he gave up five hits and three runs on 85 pitches.

Righty Domingo Germán (1-2, 6.23 ERA) will make his fourth start of the 2021 season tonight. He had an ERA of 9.00 in his first two games before allowing three runs (two earned) and seven hits over six innings Thursday at Cleveland.

On the year, the 28-year-old Germán has allowed 17 hits and nine earned runs in 13 innings. He has given up four homers and has a WHIP of 1.692 with a 2.1 walk rate and 9.0 strikeout rate.

In six career games (four starts) against the Orioles, he is 4-0 with a 2.97 ERA and WHIP of 0.989.

O's center fielder Cedric Mullins has 32 hits and is tied for the major league lead. His 15 hits (15-for-34, .441) against left-handed pitching are tied for the most in the majors. Entering this season, Mullins had 14 career hits against left-handed pitching (14-for-95), all coming while batting right-handed. Mullins ranks third in the AL in doubles, fourth in batting and 11th in OPS.

Third baseman Maikel Franco has 17 RBIs to lead the Orioles and that ranks tied for 10th in the AL.

The Orioles are 2-3 against the Yankees, scoring just 11 runs in the five games. New York's team ERA is 1.76 in those games.

The Orioles outfield has combined for five defensive runs saved (left field, 0; center field, 1 ; right field, 4), according to Baseball Info Solutions, tied for the second-most in the majors. Kansas City is first with 11, with Boston and the Orioles tied at five.

Individually, Austin Hays has accounted for 3 DRS in left field, tied for the most in the majors and Anthony Santander has accounted for 4 DRS in right, tied for the second-most in the majors. Hays has recorded assists in back-to-back games in left field and is one of seven players in the majors to have recorded at least two assists in left field this season.