O's game blog: Orioles look to salvage series finale

After losing 14-11 in 10 innings on Friday and 12-4 on Saturday afternoon to the New York Yankees, the Orioles have lost their first series of the season. They need a win today to avoid being swept three in a row.

The Yankees' last three-game sweep of the Birds in New York was from July 21-23, 2015.

The teams entered the second game of this series tied for first in the American League East. Now New York (15-7) leads the Orioles (14-8) by a game atop the division. The Orioles are 12-7 (.632) in division games, while the Yankees are 9-4 (.692). The Yankees have a four-game winning streak, taking two against Boston and two against Baltimore. They allowed just one run in two games to beat the Red Sox and have scored 26 runs in two games to beat the Orioles. Pretty impressive.

A veteran left-hander and a 24-year-old rookie left-hander square off today in the series finale. Wade Miley (1-1, 2.08 ERA) pitches for Baltimore and Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 3.78 ERA) for New York.

Miley has three straight quality starts. For the season he has pitched 26 innings allowing 12 hits and six runs with 14 walks and 32 strikeouts. His overall batting average against is .140, as lefty batters are 1-for-18 (.056) against him and right-handed batters are 11-for-68 (.162).

Over his last seven starts dating to Sept. 18, Miley is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.01 and .185 average against. In 44 2/3 innings in that span, he has walked 16 with 55 strikeouts.

Montgomery is ranked as the Yankees' No. 13 prospect by Baseball America. He was a fourth-round draft selection out of the University of South Carolina in 2014. New York signed him to a bonus of $424,000. Last season, between Double-A and Triple-A, he went 14-5 with an ERA of 2.13 and a 1.20 WHIP.

Not a hard thrower, with a fastball in the 88-92 range, he has thrown 16 2/3 innings for the Yankees in three 2017 starts. He has yielded 19 hits and eight runs (seven earned) with six walks, 16 strikeouts and a .306 average against. He has done well when in jams, allowing just two hits over 17 at-bats (.118) when pitching with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles today added pitchers Richard Bleier and Logan Verrett from Triple-A Norfolk. They take the roster spots of lefties Jayson Aquino and Vidal Nuño, who were optioned to Norfolk after Saturday's game.

These pitchers have already appeared on both the Orioles and Tides rosters this season: Aquino, Alec Asher, Bleier, Stefan Crichton, Paul Fry, Verrett and Tyler Wilson.