O's game blog: Dylan Bundy faces New York in series finale

After a walk-off win last night, the Orioles need a victory tonight to take three of four in a series against the New York Yankees for the second time in 2018. They won three of four at New York April 5-8. The Orioles are 5-4 versus the Yankees for the season and 3-2 at Camden Yards.

Last night produced the Orioles' second walk-off win of the season and first since opening day. And it was New York's second walk-off loss.

A case could be made that the Orioles are the difference right now at the top of the AL East standings, where Boston leads New York by 3 1/2 games. The Orioles are 1-9 versus Boston and 5-4 versus New York, which is a 4 1/2 game difference.

In last night's win, Manny Machado connected on his 22nd and 23rd home runs. It was his fifth multi-home run game of the season and the 19th of his career. According to STATS, LLC., it was Machado's fourth career multi-home run game against the Yankees, and he is the second player with at least four multi-home run games against the Yankees by age 26. The other was Jimmie Foxx, with six.

Machado is batting .378 (14-for-37) with six home runs and 10 RBIs in nine games against the Yankees this season. His 22 career home runs against New York are his most against any opponent. Also, Machado is batting .363 (58-for-160) with 16 home runs in 43 home games. And one final note on the Orioles shortstop: He was walked intentionally for the 12th time this season and that is tied for the second-most in the majors with Bryce Harper, trailing only Mike Trout (16).

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop delivered his third career walk-off hit with his RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning. His last was Sept. 1, 2017, against Toronto. That extended Schoop's season-long hitting streak to nine games during which he's hitting .432 (16-for-37) with five doubles, two home runs, four runs scored and three RBIs. Schoop has more hits (16) in 10 July games than he did in 25 June games (14).

On the mound tonight, right-hander Dylan Bundy (6-8, 4.08 ERA) makes his second start since returning from the disabled list. On Friday at Minnesota he gave up six runs (five earned) in 3 1/3. In his previous six games he went 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA. Bundy has 10 quality starts and the Orioles are 7-10 in his outings.

Struggling right-hander Sonny Gray (5-7, 5.85 ERA) makes his 18th start for the Yankees. He has gone just 2 1/3 and two innings his past two games, respectively, allowing a combined 13 hits (in 25 at-bats) and 11 runs. That raised his ERA from 4.93. Gray is 4-4 with a 4.64 ERA in eight career starts against Baltimore. He is 2-3 with a 4.50 in five games at Camden Yards. But in three starts at Oriole Park since Aug. 17, 2015, he is 2-1 with a 1.04 ERA.

Extending a deal with the affiliates: The Orioles today announced they have extended the working agreements with their five minor league affiliates: Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, Single-A Frederick, Single-A Delmarva, and short-season Single-A Aberdeen. The extensions are for two years, running through the 2020 season.

The Norfolk Tides have been the Orioles Triple-A affiliate since 2007, playing their home games at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Va. The Bowie Baysox, the club's Double-A affiliate since 1993, play their home games at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie, Md. The Frederick Keys have been an affiliate of the Orioles for thirty seasons, having begun a relationship in 1989. The Keys play their home games at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick, Md. The Delmarva Shorebirds became an Orioles affiliate in 1997 and play their home games at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Md. The Aberdeen IronBirds play their home games at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Md. and have been an O's affiliate since 2002.

Knight note: The Orioles third-round draft pick, Arkansas right-hander Blaine Knight, is expected to eventually report to Aberdeen and be lightly pitched this summer. He threw 112 1/3 innings for Arkanas as they made it to the final game of the College World Series. The Orioles signed Knight to a bonus of $1.1 million last Friday, on the final day for 2018 draft picks to sign.

The O's top pick, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, threw two scoreless innings today in the Gulf Coast League, giving him three scoreless over his first two pro outings.