Orioles go for sweep with Miley opposing Pineda

The Orioles ended the 2015 season by sweeping the Yankees in a three-game series at Camden Yards to finish at .500.

There's more at stake this weekend. Completing the sweep today could push them closer to first place before heading to Tampa.

The rotation has produced quality starts in five of the last six games, and Dylan Bundy came within an out of joining the pack.

Wade Miley is 1-3 with a 7.14 ERA and 1.655 WHIP in six starts with the Orioles covering only 29 innings. However, he registered a quality start in his last outing by allowing three runs in seven innings in a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jays. He retired the side in order in five of those frames and struck out nine batters.

Miley is 0-for-2 with a 5.52 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees, with 18 runs and 31 hits allowed in 29 1/3 innings.

Brian McCann is 5-for-13 with a double and home run, and Brett Gardner is 5-for-12 with two doubles.

Michael Pineda is 6-11 with a 5.12 ERA in 26 starts this season, but he's averaging 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings. No annoying whistle, however.

In his last two starts, Pineda allowed a combined 10 runs and 14 hits over 11 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out 14. The Orioles figure to also get a whiff of him.

They saw Pineda on July 20 and were shut out on five hits over six innings in a 5-0 loss in the Bronx. He's 4-2 with a 3.68 ERA in 10 career starts versus the Orioles, with nine walks and 70 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings. But he's 1-2 with a 6.39 ERA in five starts at Camden Yards.

J.J. Hardy is 9-for-18 with three home runs against Pineda, so I'll go out on a limb and say he's in the lineup today. Ryan Flaherty is 1-for-14. I say he sits.

Adam Jones is 8-for-26 with two doubles and a home run against Pineda. Manny Machado is 5-for-13 with a double. The numbers don't matter. If they're healthy, they're playing today.

Chris Davis is only 4-for-18 with 11 strikeouts, but the hits include a double and two home runs. He's also playing. Steve Pearce is 5-for-12 with a double and home run, and Nolan Reimold is 4-for-11, but it's hard to get them in the lineup, the assumption here that Hyun Soo Kim starts in left field, Mark Trumbo in right and Pedro Alvarez as the designated hitter.

Jonathan Schoop is 2-for-13, but the hits are a double and home run.

Tyler Wilson is waiting in the bullpen to make his first appearance with the Orioles since Aug. 19 against the Astros, when he allowed four runs and five hits in two innings. He's 4-6 with a 5.38 ERA in 20 games (13) starts this season.

Wilson hasn't pitched since Aug. 29 for Triple-A Norfolk, when he allowed three runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings at Gwinnett.

"Physically, I've felt really good," Wilson said. "Last outing, I had some deep counts and kind of had some really long at-bats against guys, so I didn't go that deep in the game just based on pitch count. But physically, I've been feeling really good, stuff feels really good, and just excited to get back out there up here."

Wilson figured to get another chance as rosters expanded in September, though he didn't take it for granted.

"I was hoping so," he said. "I just tried to take it a day at a time while I was down there and I was prepared to go as long as I needed to go there, just continue to work on the things I was working on and be ready if that opportunity did present itself."