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Yankees, Orioles meet in Baltimore Friday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 4/7/2017  at  10:43:00 AM
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NEW YORK YANKEES (1-2)

at BALTIMORE ORIOLES (2-0)

First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York +105, Baltimore -115, Total: 9.0

The Yankees will be looking to get back to .500 when they face the Orioles in Baltimore on Friday.

The Yankees are not off to the start they were hoping for, as they dropped two games in a three-game series against the Rays earlier this week. The Yankees struggled to score runs in that one, as they scored three or fewer in two of those three contests. They’ll need to get their offense going or the Orioles will have no trouble beating them this series. Baltimore is off to a 2-0 start this season, and it has been the team’s pitching that has won them games. The Orioles have allowed just three runs through two games this season, but they have also scored just six. Their explosive offense should pick up soon, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it happened in this series. The starters in this Friday night game will be RHP Luis Severino (3-8, 5.83 ERA, 66 K in 2016) for New York and RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (8-12, 5.44 ERA, 125 K in 2016) for Baltimore. Both guys are extremely hittable, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the OVER came in here. It’s worth noting that the Yankees were 0-7 against the money line in the first half of the season with Severino on the mound last year. New York was, however, 35-21 against the money line after having lost two of its past three games last year.

After going 5-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts as a rookie in 2015, Luis Severino badly struggled as a starter last year. He did, however, come on late in the year, thriving in a long relief role out of the bullpen. Severino then spent some of the summer working with Pedro Martinez, so he’s hoping to bounce back strong in 2017. He’ll need to make sure he doesn’t hang too many pitches on Friday, as the Orioles have the power to make him pay for those types of mistakes. As for the Yankee offense, keep an eye on both OF Jacoby Ellsbury (.455 BA, 1 HR, 1 RBI) and DH Matt Holliday (.182 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI) on Friday. Ellsbury has been excellent against Ubaldo Jimenez in his career, going 6-for-17 with a homer and three RBI against the righty. Holliday, meanwhile, is 4-for-12 against him, and it’d be big if both guys can come through at the plate here. 1B Greg Bird (.083 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI) should also provide a spark in this game. He has opened the year in a massive slump, but he has the type of plate presence to really take advantage of a guy like Jimenez.

The Orioles are off to a hot start this season and both 1B Chris Davis (.250 BA, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and OF Mark Trumbo (.250 BA, 1 HR, 2 RBI) have flashed their power thus far. Both guys have hit bombs this season, and there’s a pretty good chance that one or both of them will do that on Friday as well. Severino is prone to making mistakes on the mound, and both of these guys will be ready to crush any poorly placed pitches. This game also represents a good opportunity for 3B Manny Machado (.286 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to record his first homer or RBI of the season. Jimenez, meanwhile, is going up against a Yankees team that has not looked very competent at the plate thus far. If he can turn in six or so innings of quality work then the O’s should improve to 3-0.


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