O's game blog: O's host Yankees in homestand opener

The Orioles begin a six-game, seven-day homestand against two American League East teams tonight when they host the New York Yankees at Oriole Park. It is the start of a three-game series.

The Orioles (16-21) got swept two straight by the New York Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday, scoring a combined three runs in the two games. They have lost five of the last six games, scoring 18 runs in that span. The Orioles are just 5-13 at home and are 0-4-1 in five home series. They are 7-10 in games within the AL East and 3-4 against the Yankees.

The Orioles bullpen ranks fourth-best in the AL with an ERA of 3.39. But the 'pen has been scored on in eight of the last 11 games with an ERA of 4.97 in that span. The 'pen ERA for the year was 2.81 when this stretch started.

Trey Mancini leads the Orioles with seven home runs and 29 RBIs and has also recorded the second-most hits on the team (36). Mancini's RBIs are tied for the fifth-most in the AL and the sixth-most in the majors. Mancini has driven in 22.1 percent of the Orioles' runs this season (29 of 131). Mancini is batting a team-best .370 (17-for-46) with runners in scoring position. He is the only Oriole batting over .300 with RISP.

Cedric Mullins leads the O's with 45 hits, the third-most in the majors. He is currently on a seven-game hitting streak and has had three separate hit streaks of at least five games this season (11, seven and five). Mullins is batting .431 (28-for-65) in the Orioles' 16 wins, hitting safely in 15 of the 16 games, and is batting .210 (17-for-81) in the Orioles' 21 losses.

The O's start this homestand with a minus-29 run differential at home, compared to a plus-9 differential on the road. Their .278 winning percentage at home is the lowest in the majors. The O's have homered 20 times in 18 home games (1.1 homers/game) and they have 17 homers on the road in 19 games (0.9 homers/game).

Right-hander Dean Kremer (0-3, 6.23 ERA) will make his seventh start of the year tonight and his third against the Yankees. In two starts versus the Yankees last season, he went 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA, allowing two runs and five hits over 11 innings. The Yankees went 5-for-37 against him in those games, batting .135. In two starts this year, he is 0-2 with an ERA of 11.05 against New York and the Yankees have hit .417 against him at 15-for-36.

But in his last two starts this season, he has an ERA of 3.27 versus Seattle and Boston, allowing four runs and seven hits in 11 innings. Last year in the majors, Kremer did not allow a homer over 18 2/3 innings. This season he has given up six homers in 26 innings.

Right-hander Corey Kluber (2-2, 3.06 ERA) will make his eighth start for New York. For the season, over 35 1/3 innings, he has allowed 32 hits with a WHIP of 1.387, walking 4.3 per nine with 8.9 strikeouts. He defeated the Orioles on April 27 at Camden Yards, allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings on 96 pitches.

The Yankees are 4-3 in his 2021 outings, winning three in a row. Kluber has gone 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA in those games, yielding three earned runs over 20 1/3 innings.

New York is 20-17 and has won four of five, nine of 12 and 14 of 20 games. The Yankees are 15-7 since they ended a five-game losing streak on April 18. They are 9-13 in AL East games and 8-2 in games in the AL outside of the East.

Yankees pitchers lead the AL with a team ERA of 3.22 and their starting pitchers have an ERA of 3.44, which ranks second in the league. New York starters have given up two earned runs or less in 12 of their last 16 games. The New York bullpen, with an ERA of 2.90, is third in the AL.

A few farm notes: High Single-A Aberdeen team has the best record of the O's four full-season affiliates at 7-2. The IronBirds' 2.25 team ERA leads all of high-A baseball. They lead their league with 22 stolen bases.

Double-A Bowie (6-2) has scored 24 runs in three wins this week versus Reading. The Baysox are tied for first in their league with 14 homers and rank third in runs (50) and OPS (.848) and fourth in ERA (2.92).

Bowie third baseman Patrick Dorrian leads all of Double-A in OPS (1.617), is tied for second in home runs (4) and tied for sixth in batting average (.417).

Low Single-A Delmarva (6-3) ranks second in its league in runs (64) and OPS (.814.). Catcher Jordan Cannon is batting .414 with four homers, eight RBIs and an OPS of 1.296.

Triple-A Norfolk (3-6) plays at Charlotte tonight with lefty Zac Lowther getting the start this evening, Alexander Wells on Saturday and Thomas Eshelman on Sunday.

Infielder Mason McCoy has hit safely in six straight games to start the year and is batting .280 (7-for-25) with three runs, a home run, two doubles and three walks. Catcher/designated hitter Brett Cumberland has hit safely in five straight games and is batting .400 (8-for-20) with five runs, two home runs, two walks and four RBIs over that span.