O's game blog: Orioles look to get the bats going in series opener in the Bronx

After going 13-6 against the New York Yankess last year - and winning the season series for the first time since 1997 - the Orioles took two of three when the teams met for the first time this year.

The Orioles are 6-0-1 in their last seven series against New York since losing three of four Sept. 9-12, 2013.

Adam Jones is 5-for-11 with two homers and four RBIs against the Yankees in 2015. Delmon Young is 4-for-6 with an RBI, while Caleb Joseph went 7-for-11 with a triple and two RBIs in that earlier series.

The Orioles scored 57 runs and hit 17 homers in 10 games at Yankee Stadium last year. They hope they can hit like that in this series after scoring just three runs in two games at Citi Field against the Mets and scoring just 11 runs the past five games.

New York's Mark Teixeira is tied for second in the American League with 10 homers and ranks second in at-bats per homer with one every 9.1 at-bats. Nelson Cruz leads the league with 14 homers, averaging one every 7.93 at-bats.

Chris Tillman (2-3, 6.23 ERA) gets the start tonight for the Orioles against 25-year-old right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 3.81 ERA).

In two starts against Toronto, Tillman has allowed 14 runs over seven innings. He has an ERA of 1.89 in his other three starts. Tonight he makes a road start for the fifth time in six outings. Tillman went 1-1 with an ERA of 1.98 in four starts versus the Yankees last year. But he is 3-3 with a 7.47 ERA in seven career Yankee Stadium starts.

Eovaldi faced the Orioles on April 15 and took a no-decision. Over five innings, he allowed eight hits and two runs with three walks and a season-high nine strikeouts. Acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins in December, Eovaldi has a poor career record of just 17-35 with an an ERA of 4.05.

Last season with Miami, he went 6-14 with an ERA of 4.37. He gave up 10.1 hits per nine innings with 1.9 walks, 6.4 strikeouts and a 1.33 WHIP.

He led the National League in hits allowed last year and this season has given up 38 hits over 28 1/3 innings. He has given up more hits than innings in each of his five starts and is allowing an average of 12.1 hits per every nine innings.

Left-handed hitters have hit .404 against him this year with an OPS of .966 and they hit .294 against him over his career.

Adam Jones among AL leaders:
* First in batting average at .383.
* Tied for second with 59 total bases.
* Third in slugging at .628.
* Fifth with 36 hits.

The Double-A Bowie Baysox won again this afternoon, beating Akron 4-2 for a four-game sweep. Elih Villanueva gave up just two runs over seven innings to improve to 4-2 with a 2.78 ERA. Gene Escat pitched the final two innings for his second save. Bowie has won six in a row and 13 of 17 games to improve to 17-10.

Here's the O's game plan the next four days: Take the lead into the late innings to avoid facing Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, who have not allowed an earned run this year in 29 combined innings with 49 strikeouts. They are 12-for-13 in save chances.