O's game blog: Keegan Akin faces Gerrit Cole and the Yankees

After beating the New York Yankees last night for the first time since March 31, 2019, the Orioles look for two in a row against the Bronx Bombers tonight at Camden Yards. The O's lost the opener of Friday's doubleheader 6-5 before winning 6-3 in the nightcap.

The Orioles (17-21) ended a 19-game losing streak to New York, improving to 1-3 in the season series. They are 8-15 at home and 9-14 versus American League East opponents.

New York (21-17) has lost four of six and 11 of the past 16 games. They are 12-9 within the division and 7-10 on the road.

Lefty Keegan Akin (0-0, 3.52 ERA) will get the start for the Orioles, making his second major league start. Last Monday against Toronto he went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Akin has thrown 7 2/3 innings in three big league games, allowing five hits and three earned runs with three walks and seven strikeouts.

He is throwing his fastball 63 percent of the time with an average velocity of 92.7 mph. He's added his slider at 20 percent and his changeup at 11 percent.

In the game against the Blue Jays, Akin threw 49 fastballs, showing that pitch 60 percent of the time. His fastball averaged 93 mph and topped at 95.5 mph. He threw 19 sliders and 13 changeups. Toronto swung at 37 pitches and whiffed at nine of them, seven fastballs and two changeups.

Right-hander Gerrit Cole (4-2, 3.91 ERA), who signed a nine-year free agent deal over the winter with the Yankees for $324 million, will make his ninth start. Cole had a 2.75 ERA through his first six starts. But in his last two, against Atlanta and Tampa Bay, he has given up 13 hits and nine runs over 10 innings, allowing five home runs. Cole has an 8.10 ERA in those two games. And the home run ball has been a recent issue. He allowed five in those two games and has given up seven homers over 16 2/3, over his last three outings.

Lefty batters hit just .227 off Cole, but produce an .891 OPS against him. He has given up seven of his 12 homers to lefty batters. Cole is 2-1 with a 5.06 ERA in four road starts.

Last year he allowed three or more runs in nine of 33 starts, or 27 percent. This year he has done that in four of eight starts for 50 percent. The Yankees are 5-3 in his eight starts.

He got a win against the Orioles on July 29 in Baltimore, allowing three runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings. In three career starts, he is 1-0 with a 2.29 ERA. In 19 2/3 innings he has given up 13 hits to Baltimore batters with three walks to 25 strikeouts.

O's shortstop José Iglesias went 1-for-4 in the opener Friday and is now hitting .398 (35-for-88) through his first 23 games with the Orioles. Among players with at least 80 at-bats, Iglesias' .398 average leads the majors, while New York's DJ LeMahieu ranks second with a .380 average. The last player in the majors to hit over .390 in a season was San Diego's Tony Gwynn, who hit .394 during 110 games of the strike-shortened 1994 season.