O's game blog: Orioles look to snap losing streak this afternoon at Yankee Stadium

While the New York Yankees are surging and have opened a three-game lead atop the American League East, the Orioles need a win today to avoid their second five-game losing streak of the 2015 season.

In 2014, the Orioles never lost more than four in a row. Today, the 2015 Orioles try to avoid another five-game losing streak just 28 games into the season.

New York has posted 4-3 and 5-4 wins the past two nights over the Orioles. One more win the next two days would give them a series victory over the O's for the first time since Sept. 9-12, 2013 when they took three of four.

Last year, the Orioles won five and tied one series and went 2-1 in the first series against the Yankees April 13-15. They were 15-7 versus New York since 2014 before losing these past two games.

At 19-11, New York is now tied for the best record in the American League. The Yankees have won six of eight, nine of 12 and 16 of their last 21 games. They have won five of their last six series. New York's current record represents its best 30-game start since the team went 21-9 in 2010.

Friday's loss dropped the O's record to 6-11 in road games and to 5-10 in games decided by two runs or less.

On the mound this afternoon, Wei-Yin Chen (0-1, 2.83 ERA) faces 25-year-old right-hander Chase Whitley (1-0, 0.75 ERA).

Chen has three quality starts among his five outings. Over his last three starts, his ERA is 1.96. Opponent batters are hitting just .091 (2-for-22) against him with runners in scoring position.

Chen has posted the lowest ERA (2.83) among qualifying MLB starting pitchers who remain winless this season. Chase Anderson (Ariz) ranks second (3.38), and Dillon Gee (NYM) ranks third (3.86).

Whitley began the year at Triple-A Scranton, going 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA before his callup to New York. In two starts against Tampa Bay and Toronto, he has allowed one run and 12 hits over 12 innings.

In three games last year (one start) against the Orioles, he went 0-1 with a 14.29 ERA, allowing nine runs in 5 2/3 innings. The O's batted .448 (13-for-29) against him, with three doubles and two homers.

Caleb Joseph had two more hits last night and has five multi-hit games in five starts against New York. He is batting .611 (11-for-18) versus the Yankees in 2015, with a homer and four RBIs.

After his three-hit game on Friday night, Manny Machado is batting .375 (21-for-56) over his last 16 games with four homers and 10 RBIs. Jimmy Paredes had a two-run single last night and has 14 RBIs his last 13 games. He is batting .533 (8-for-15) this year with RISP, with a homer and nine RBIs.

But the O's offense overall has struggled recently, scoring just 10 runs the last four games in New York and only 18 runs over their last seven games.