The Orioles' roster is undergoing more changes today. Hope you didn't get too attached to the old one.
Left-hander Brian Matusz comes off the suspended list and the Orioles are expected to recall another reliever. As I speculated last night, left-hander T.J. McFarland could be optioned. He's allowed baserunners in all 10 appearances this season, though his ERA is 1.93.
A win today would give the Orioles a sweep of the Yankees and extend their winning streak to seven games, the longest under manager Buck Showalter. Heck, make that the longest in 10 years.
It also would put them two games above .500 for the first time since April 19, when they were 7-5.
According to STATS, the Orioles haven't swept the Red Sox and Yankees in consecutive series since September 1970. Will history repeat itselt later today? Stay tuned.
Need further proof that baseball is a funny game?
Caleb Joseph batted .074/.103/.222 in nine games against the Yankees last season, going 2-for-27 with a double, home run, two RBIs and 13 strikeouts.
Joseph will return to the starting lineup this afternoon in the series finale, proving that he can multitask by catching and turning the tables. He's currently batting .560/.577/.960 in seven games against the Yankees, going 14-for-25 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and five RBIs.
Funny, indeed.
Travis Snider also is expected in the lineup today against Yankees right-hander Adam Warren. Snider has hit safely in his last four games, going 5-for-17. He's collected four RBIs in his last three games, having only one since April 23.
Warren has allowed two earned runs or fewer in his last four starts. He faced the Orioles on May 8 and gave up two runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Warren is 1-2 with a 6.89 ERA and 2.106 WHIP in 11 career games, including one start, against the Orioles. The current group is 20-for-47 (.426) against him, led by Manny Machado with six hits in seven at-bats.
J.J. Hardy is 3-for-6 with a double and Adam Jones is 4-for-9 with a double.
Mike Wright is making his fifth major league start today. He's 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA, with eight earned runs, 21 hits, four walks (two intentional), 16 strikeouts, two hit batters and four home runs in 24 1/3 innings.
Right-handers are batting .184 with one home run against Wright and left-handers are hitting .286 with three home runs.
Shameless plug alert: I'm appearing on "O's Xtra" at 1 p.m. on MASN.
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