Latest winless road trip followed by Yankees clash, plus farm notes

Well, as they are 2-17 in their past 19 home games, we can't necessarily say it will get better for the Orioles as they return home today. They host the New York Yankees this afternoon at 4:05 p.m. in a single-admission doubleheader.

The last-place Orioles (24-65) are now 41 games under .500 and 37 games out of first as they begin an eight-game homestand today. They just endured their third 0-6 road trip of the season. They lost all six in April at Boston and Detroit. They did the same in May at Anaheim and Oakland, and just lost two at Philly and four in Minnesota. Remember, the Twins began their series with the Orioles with a six-game losing streak, having lost 11 of 13, and had just come from a 1-8 road trip. The Twins' four-game sweep was their first ever at home against the Orioles.

Chris Davis has hit four homers his last 11 games, Jonathan Schoop is swinging it well, finally, and Manny Machado is back raking. But it hasn't meant much for an Orioles offense that has scored 25 runs over the last 10 games. Let's not even talk about the runners-in-scoring-position stats again.

Today the Orioles pitch two young right-handers against the Bronx Bombers. And they are the Bombers again, leading the majors with 147 homers. Let's see how Jimmy Yacabonis (0-0, 8.53 ERA) and Yefry Ramifez (0-2, 2.51 ERA) handle this challenge.

The Orioles are 3-3 versus the Yankees in 2018. They won three of four at New York in early April. That is one of just three road series wins in 15 series for the club this year. They lost two games in Baltimore by scores of 4-1 and 8-5 in early June. Two games in that series were rained out, one of which is being made up today.

New York beat the Blue Jays 2-1 in 10 innings Sunday to take two of three in that series. At 58-29 (.667), the Yankees are on a 108-win pace. They own the second-best record in baseball, and would lead in any other division, but are second in the American League East, trailing by two games a Boston team that owns the top record. The Red Sox are 62-29.

The Yankees have won four of five and eight of their past 12 games. They are 21-15 in AL East games and 37-14 in all other games. New York is 42-5 when scoring first this season.

There may be miles between these teams in the standings, but they're on the same field today as the Orioles and Yankees begin a four-game series.

Farm notes: Triple-A Norfolk lost 7-4 to the Durham Bulls Sunday. Right-hander David Hess returned to the Tides and allowed eight hits and four runs over 2 2/3 innings. Right-hander Eddie Gamboa pitched 2 1/3 scoreless and has thrown 8 1/3 scoreless in three games since joining the Tides.

Norfolk is 46-41. The Tides have their third-best record at the All-Star break since becoming an Orioles affiliate in 2007. The International League meets the Pacific Coast League on Wednesday in the Triple-A All-Star game. Yacabonis, Drew Dosch and DJ Stewart were selected for that game.

Bowie third baseman Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer as the Baysox beat the Harrisburg Senators 8-4 Sunday. Mountcastle has a 12-game hitting streak and he's batting .316. Right-hander Branden Kline picked up his sixth save and has a 1.82 ERA with the Baysox. Mountcastle and four of his teammates will play Wednesday in the Eastern League All-Star game. Joining Mountcastle will be catcher Martin Cervenka, infielder Corban Joseph and pitchers Keegan Akin and Luis Gonzalez.

Lefty Alex Wells took the loss for Single-A Frederick yesterday versus the Carolina Mudcats. He gave up four runs over 4 1/3 and is 3-6 with a 4.13 ERA. Wells allowed three homers to tie his career-high.

Right-hander Brenan Hanifee threw another strong game but got a no-decision in Single-A Delmarva's 2-1 win over the Hickory Crawdads. Over eight innings, Hanifee allowed seven hits and one unearned run. His ERA dropped to 2.41.