O's game blog: Tonight's game and minor league notes (O's lose 2-1)

The Orioles have played the Yankees six times this year, winning four, but both of those series were in Baltimore. They make their first visit to Yankee Stadium tonight to start a four-game series.

Off a series win on the road against the Rays, the Orioles are 53-37 and leading the American League East by two games over the Red Sox and three over the Blue Jays. The Yankees (45-46) are in fourth place, 8 1/2 games out. New York is under .500 after the All-Star break for the first time since 1995.

The Orioles bullpen has allowed just one earned run over the last 16 2/3 in a five-game stretch for an ERA of 0.54. New York's bullpen has recorded 19 consecutive scoreless innings and has worked to an ERA of 1.16 the last nine games.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Kevin Gausman (1-6, 4.15 ERA) pitches against right-hander Ivan Nova (6-5, 5.18 ERA).

While Gausman is 1-3 with a 5.74 ERA his past five starts, he has an ERA of 0.64 in two starts this season against the Yankees. Over 14 innings, he has allowed one run. In 13 career games, he is 3-2 with a 2.22 ERA against New York.

Nova is 3-2 with a 6.57 ERA his last seven starts and has allowed four runs or more in seven of his past nine starts. He made one start versus the Orioles this year, allowing five runs over six innings on June 4. In 16 career games against Baltimore, he is 7-4 with a 5.22 ERA.

The Orioles are 4-2 against New York this year and 25-15 since June 21, 2014. The O's went 3-7 last season at Yankee Stadium.

Farm notes:

* Double-A Bowie catcher Chance Sisco homered in the Futures Game and has started off hot in the second half. Sisco is 7-for-9 his last two games. Over his past four games, he is 10-for-14 with two doubles and three RBIs, raising his average to .324.

* Bowie outfielder Julio Borbon extended his hitting streak to 10 games, batting .500 (21-for-42) with four extra-base hits, nine runs and four RBIs.

* Single-A Frederick's Aderlin Rodriguez went 3-for-8 in Sunday's doubleheader. He has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, slashing .410/.438/.820 (25-for-61) with three doubles, two triples, six home runs and 17 RBIs during that stretch.

* In 45 games since May 28, Triple-A Norfolk's Trey Mancini has hit .347 with six home runs, 24 RBIs and a .408 on-base percentage. Over that span, Mancini ranks among International League leaders in hits (second, 60), average (third, .347), OBP (fourth, .408) and OPS (ninth, .917).

* Norfolk reliever Jason Stoffel has not allowed an earned run in eight straight outings, holding batters to an .042 average (1-for-24) with 12 strikeouts over eight innings.

* Single-A Delmarva was shut out in both ends of Sunday's doubleheader at Augusta, losing 6-0 in Game 1 and 1-0 in Game 2. The Shorebirds were no-hit by right-hander Jake McCasland in the night cap, the third no-hitter in the South Atlantic League this season.

* Short-season Single-A Aberdeen left-hander Alexander Wells picked up the win Sunday in the IronBirds' 7-3 victory over Staten Island. He gave up four hits and two runs (one earned) over five innings. Signed by the Orioles for $300,000 last August from Newcastle, Australia, Wells is 3-2 with a 1.77 ERA over six starts. In 35 2/3 innings, he has walked just two with 21 strikeouts.

* The Gulf Coast League Orioles are in first place with a 13-9 record after today's 3-2 win over the Red Sox. 19-year-old right-hander Jhon Peluffo is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA that ranks eighth in the league. From Cartegena, Colombia, Peluffo has walked two and fanned 24 over 18 innings. He ranks third in the GCL in WHIP at 0.72.

O's lose at New York: The Orioles got a Jonathan Schoop home run in the third inning tonight and nothing else on offense in a 2-1 loss to the Yankees. They fall to 53-38 and their AL East lead is down to 1 1/2 games over idle Boston.

The Orioles have been held to just five runs the last three games and 16 in the last six. They left the bases loaded in the first inning tonight and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. In the first four games of this road trip, they are 1-for-21 with RISP.

It was another night where the O's didn't score much for Gausman. He took the loss, allowing two runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings to fall to 1-7 with an ERA of 4.05. In three starts this year versus New York, Gausman has an ERA of 1.31, allowing three runs in 20 2/3 innings.