First pitch: Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Baltimore -115, New York +105, Total: 7.5

The New York Yankees travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles for the first time this year when they meet on Monday night.

The offense for the Yankees has gotten them off to a rough start, scoring a mere 17 runs (3.4 runs per game) in the first five contests before breaking out in a 14-4 victory on Sunday night. The pitching didn’t do that great either, with the opposition scoring 5.8 runs per game and getting 49 hits in the first five outings. In Sunday’s win, they found their stroke behind 16 hits and two first inning homers. DH Alex Rodriguez (.300) has made a triumphant return to the lineup this year and has two doubles, a home run and six RBIs over the first six games. The Orioles followed up their season opening series win against the Rays with a tough visit from the Blue Jays. They lost 2-of-3 games against their division rivals and allowed them to put up 22 runs in the two defeats. The rubber match came on Sunday and despite Baltimore getting seven runs on eight hits, they lost 10-7, giving up three homers in the process. OF Adam Jones (.381) has gotten off to a hot start and in the series against Toronto, he was 7-for-10 with two long balls, five RBIs and five runs. The starting pitching matchup for this contest should be a solid one as RHP Michael Pineda (0-0, 3.00 ERA) goes toe-to-toe with LHP Wei-Yin Chen (0-0, 6.23 ERA) of the host team. These clubs have obviously played each other a ton over the years and since the start of the 2013 campaign, the Orioles have gotten the best of New York, going 22-16 (.579) with a record of 13-6 at home in that time. Baltimore saw its bats speaking loudly in the last three meetings with the Yanks, totaling 37 hits (7 HRs) and 19 runs while going 2-1. The Yankees have actually been a solid team when playing as the underdog since 1997, going 200-212 (.485) as the Orioles are 75-40 (.652) in night games since the start of last year. New York has no significant injuries to their lineup going into this early season matchup, but Baltimore will be without C Matt Wieters (Elbow) and SS J.J. Hardy (Shoulder) as 2B Jonathan Schoop (Quad) is questionable.

Pineda is expected to be a huge piece of this ballclub if the Yankees expect to compete this season and he is coming off a solid yet short 2014 performance. He had a mere 13 starts in that year, but posted a spectacular 1.89 ERA (0.83 WHIP) in 76.1 IP. One of his biggest improvements was his control, walking a miniscule 0.83 batters per nine innings as his strikeouts dropped to 7.0 K/9. He kicked off this year with a great outing against the Blue Jays, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings as he struck out six batters (1 walk) in a no-decision. He’s also been tremendous against the Orioles in his career, going 1-0 (1-3 team record) with a 1.78 ERA (0.75 WHIP) and a 23:3 K/BB ratio in 25.1 IP. The only Baltimore hitter that is active for this game with multiple hits against Pineda is OF Adam Jones who is 3-for-11 with a double and two RBIs while 1B Chris Davis, OF Delmon Young and OF Travis Snider have combined to go 1-for-16 with a homer and nine strikeouts against the righty. New York’s bullpen has been one of the best in the league thus far, compiling a 1.93 ERA (1.10 WHIP) in 32.2 IP as it’s saved its one close win. Closer Andrew Miller (0.00 ERA, 1 save) will be getting to pitch in the ninth inning for the time being and has not allowed a hit with three strikeouts in his first two outings.

Chen has been a solid contributor to this rotation since joining the team in 2012 and is coming off a great 2014 showing where he went 16-6 with a 3.43 ERA; both career-best marks. He did see his strikeouts drop to 6.6 K/9, but also walked just 1.7 batters per nine innings and left 77.5% of runners on base. His first start of this year came against the Rays and he only made it 4.1 innings in which he gave up three runs on four hits with four strikeouts (2 walks). His time against the Yankees has not been fun as he has gone 3-4 (4-6 team record) with a 4.99 ERA (1.35 WHIP) and has allowed 13 runs (11 ER) in the last three meetings with them. OFs Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury have crushed Chen in the past, combining to go 11-for-27 (.407) with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs. Not everybody has performed well against him, though, with C Brian McCann (0-for-6), DH Alex Rodriguez (2-for-10, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 3 Ks) and 1B Mark Teixeira (1-for-6) all doing poorly. The bullpen for this club has not done well so far, going 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA (1.33 WHIP) and successfully saving the game in their one chance. Zach Britton (3.00 ERA, 1 save) continues to man the ninth inning and has thrown in each of the team’s wins this year, giving up two hits with a 6:0 K/BB ratio in three innings.