Hays' status remains uncertain due to sore hamstring

The Orioles will make a decision later this afternoon about the status of outfielder Austin Hays, whose sore right hamstring could force the club into placing him on the 10-day injured list.

Hays is having the leg examined again today.

"He's still sore," manager Brandon Hyde said in his Zoom call. "We're getting him checked out and we're going to have a decision on him here very shortly. Probably the next 30 minutes or so."

Hays injured the hamstring yesterday in Boston on his double in a seven-run third inning. He stayed in the game, dived back into the bag on Cedric Mullins' bloop single that initially appeared to be caught and came off the field.

In three starts in left field at Fenway Park, Hays was 2-for-10 with a double, two RBIs and four strikeouts.

Ryan McKenna is on the taxi squad and 40-man roster and could simply replace Hays on the active roster. If the Orioles are seeking the easiest corresponding move on the road.

The Orioles are carrying a three-man bench, which can put them in a bind with a player being unavailable.

"It's difficult," Hyde said. "A lot of teams are doing it. It's not just because of pitchers and innings that we want to be able to cover. But yeah, like yesterday, I had an infielder (Pat Valaika) playing the outfield. I would have loved to have gotten (Anthony) Santander off the field, but just didn't have anybody to put out there for him.

"It's part of the game right now with the 26-man roster. I'm going to try to rest guys as much as I possibly can, utilize the DH, try to keep everybody as fresh as possible."

Reliever Shawn Armstrong could be activated off the injured list today. His status also is a Bronx mystery.

"That's the same with the Austin decision is that nothing is official at this point, so I can't announce it," Hyde said. "We're just waiting. You'll know something probably in the next hour."

The Orioles are trying to go 4-0 for the first time since 2017.

"I think we played just clean baseball," Valaika said. "We pitched really good, we got some timely hits, played good defense. We just played good baseball for three days and it was fun. Doesn't really surprise any of us in the clubhouse.

"All of us are Major League Baseball players, and we show up and compete and it doesn't matter who we play. You've got to have that mindset that you're going to go out there and win that game every night. So not surprising at all. Great start for us and just want to keep it rolling."

For the Yankees
DJ LeMahieu 2B
Aaron Judge RF
Aaron Hicks CF
Giancarlo Stanton DH
Gleyber Torres SS
Gary Sánchez C
Jay Bruce 1B
Gio Urshela 3B
Clint Frazier LF

Jordan Montgomery LHP

Torres is a lifetime .358/.444/.821 hitter in 37 games against the Orioles, including nine doubles, 16 home runs, 34 RBIs and 17 walks. Sánchez has seven doubles, 17 home runs and 41 RBIs in 47 games.