The New York Yankees send their ace Masahiro Tanaka to the hill in hopes to take one back from the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park.
A blown 5-1 lead in Friday’s opener clearly wasn’t ideal for the New York Yankees, but they can still avoid losing their second series of the young 2017 season with a win against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Getting the ball for New York will be Masahiro Tanaka, who’s looking to bounce back from a dismal Opening Day start in which he surrendered seven earned runs in just 2.2 innings pitched.
He made just one start at Camden Yards in 2016 and pitched eight shutout innings while striking out seven of the 29 Oriole hitters he faced.
Buck Showalter is countering with a Yankee killer in Kevin Gausman. The righty owns a 1.92 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 79.2 innings of work throughout his 17 career games (11 starts) against New York. Brett Gardner is the only current Yankees who has hit a home run off the 26-year-old.
Gausman faced the Yankees three times last season at Camden Yards and gave up just one earned run over 20 innings if work (0.45 ERA). On May 5, he pitched eight shutout innings without walking a single batter:
Lineups:
March Towards 2K:
Yankees’ designated hitter Matt Holliday, who reached base in all four plate appearances on Friday including a home run, is just one hit away from the 2,000 hit plateau.
When accomplished, the 37-year-old will join Ichiro (3,030), Adrian Beltre (2,942), Albert Pujols (2,826), Carlos Beltran (2,622), Miguel Cabrera (2,519) and Robinson Cano (2,214) on the list of active players with 2,000 or more career hits.
Home Away From Home:
Left fielder Brett Gardner owns a .394/.475/.515 (13-for-33) slash line with seven runs scored, four doubles, two RBI’s and five walks in 10 games at Camden Yards since the start of the 2016 season.
He is also the most successful Yankee on the active roster against today’s opposing starter, Kevin Gausman. In 29 at-bats, Gardner has recorded nine hits (.310) with a home run and two doubles.
No other hitter in the Yankees’ lineup with at least 10 at-bats of Baltimore’s ace is hitting over .280.
Baltimore Blues:
Since the start of the 2014 season, the Yankees have lost nine straight series at Camden Yards. In that span, they are 7-21 and have won just 1-of-10 series openers. Their last series win on the road against this divisional foe came on September 12, 2013, when New York took a four-game set.
This Day In Yankees History:
On this day in 2004, Hideki Matsui welcomed himself to the Bronx in grand fashion by smashing a grand slam in his Yankee Stadium debut, leading the Yankees to a 7-3 win over Minnesota.
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