O's game blog: Orioles look to extend win streak against the Yankees

The Orioles have won six, lost one and tied one in their last eight series against the New York Yankees. They will be able to add another series win to that if they get a victory tonight or tomorrow.

New York came to Baltimore with an 11-4 record since May 25 - tied for the best in the majors - but got beat 11-3 last night as the Orioles had 16 hits, went 9-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and Chris Davis homered and drove in four runs.

The Orioles offense is finally starting to come around. They've scored 22 runs the past three games. Over their last seven games, the Orioles are batting .300 with 10 doubles, two triples, nine homers, 36 runs and a .313 batting average (20-for-64) with runners in scoring position.

Winners of five in a row and seven of the last eight games, the Orioles are 30-30. A win tonight would move them over the .500 mark for the first time since May 3, when they were 12-11.

While the offense has picked up, the pitching has held pretty strong and maybe even gotten a little better in recent games. The team ERA is 2.51 the last nine games and the rotation ERA is 3.26 in that stretch. The O's bullpen has allowed just one run in 16 innings the past four games.

On the mound tonight, Bud Norris (2-4, 8.63 ERA) faces left-hander CC Sabathia (3-7, 5.25 ERA).

Norris returned from the disabled list on Sunday and went five innings at Cleveland, allowing one run on 85 pitches. In his six starts before he went on the disabled list, he gave up three runs or more each time.

Sabathia is 18-7 with an ERA of 3.40 in 31 career starts against the Orioles. In his only start against them this year on April 14, he gave up four runs over seven innings.

Sabathia is tied for the American League lead in losses with a group of four that includes Cleveland's Corey Kluber, Detroit's Anibal Sanchez and the Orioles' Chris Tillman. Who would have figure that foursome would be the tied for the league lead in losses on June 13?

Minor matters: O's manager Buck Showalter told reporters today that Delmarva's 18-year-old third baseman, Jomar Reyes, suffered a sprained thumb in the Shorebirds' game last night.

"He is getting an MRI. I hope that doesn't come back broken. Good looking player. Pretty exciting player," Showalter said of Reyes, who is batting .283 with two homers, 24 RBIs and a .767 OPS. Earlier this week, Reyes was selected to play in the South Atlantic League All-Star game set for June 23.

Also, Double-A Bowie outfielder Mike Yastrzemski will be evaluated by a doctor after he suffered a sprained thumb diving for a ball in the outfield last night. In 58 Baysox games, Yastrzemski is batting .270 with two homers, 23 RBIs and a .734 OPS.

Yastrzemski is ranked as the Orioles' No. 9 prospect by Baseball America and Reyes is the No. 10.