O's game blog: Final game of the year between the Orioles and Yankees

The Orioles and New York Yankees will play tonight to wrap up this series and their 2023 season series. The clubs will not meet again this year after tonight.

The Orioles blanked New York 1-0 Friday night on Anthony Santander’s walk-off home run in the last of the ninth. New York won 8-3 last night as right-hander Tyler Wells allowed three runs over 2 2/3 innings in his third straight ineffective outing. Ryan Mountcastle hit a solo homer Saturday night, his 13^th.

The Orioles (63-41) have lost three of four games and are 6-6 over their past 12 games. They are 31-21 at home and 15-9 in July. They are about to close out their fourth straight winning month of the season, fifth if you count going 1-0 in March.

The Orioles need a win tonight to keep an impressive streak going. They have not lost an American League East series since April 9, when they started 0-2 in division series. Since then they are 6-0-2, with the winner of this series to be determined by tonight’s game.

The last time the Orioles had a streak longer than eight consecutive non-losing division series was 11 in a row from Aug. 1-Sept. 30, 2012. This run has seen the Orioles winning series versus Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, New York and Toronto. They then split series at Tampa Bay and New York before going 3-1 against the Rays last weekend.

For the year, the Birds are 20-13 in division games, going 6-6 against New York, 3-3 versus Boston, 6-3 against Tampa Bay and 5-1 versus Toronto. In this run against the AL East, they have gone 18-9 in 27 games.

The Yankees (55-49) are 14-18 in AL East games, 23-25 on the road and 6-7 since the All-Star game.

The Orioles are 8-6 in rubber-match games, losing their most recent one in Philadelphia. The Birds would improve their series record to 20-11-3 with a win tonight.

Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman, in his first game ever as a leadoff batter Saturday, extended his on-base streak to a career-high 14 straight games after being hit by a pitch in the first inning. That marked his first hit-by-pitch of the season.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson recorded his 13th double in the fifth inning to snap an 0-for-15 run at the plate.

First baseman Ryan O’Hearn smacked his 12th double of the year in the third inning, one shy of his career high of 13 set in 2019 with Kansas City.

Right-hander Dean Kremer (10-4, 4.59 ERA) will make his 22^nd start tonight, and the Orioles have a strong 15-6 record in the first 21. They have won Kremer’s last four starts and are 7-1 his past eight.

Kremer has allowed one earned run in three of his past four games, giving up five runs in 4 2/3 two starts ago versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. He followed that up allowing one run in seven innings at Philadelphia.

Kremer is 1-0 this year with a 3.75 ERA in two starts versus the Yankees. He is unbeaten this year in AL East starts, making seven and going 4-0 with a 4.03 ERA. The Orioles are 6-1 in those seven games.

Right-hander Luis Severino (2-4, 6.46 ERA) starts for New York. When he pitched against the Orioles July 6 in the Bronx he gave up 10 hits and seven runs in 2 2/3 in a game the Orioles won 14-1. But in two starts since that disastrous outing, he has a 3.09 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.

An All-Star in 2017-18, he missed the first 48 games of this season with a right lat strain and tonight is making his 12^th start.