Yankees pitching duels against Orioles for the series before the All-Star break

July 12, 2024

The All-Star break can’t come soon enough for the Yankees after they have now lost or tied eight consecutive series in the past month following Thursday’s 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Now they’re off to Baltimore for a crucial three-game series against the Orioles, who overtook the Bronx Bombers in their free fall and are now two games ahead of the division lead in the American League East.

So far in 2024, the Orioles have outscored the Yankees, winning five of seven games, including a 17-5 loss in the series finale when these two teams last met on June 20 in the Bronx.

If the Yankees continue their troubles and lose another series before the Midsummer Classic, they could fall even further behind in the AL wild card race, with the Twins already 1 1/2 games behind them and now hot on their heels are the red-hot Red Sox, who have won 18 of their last 25 games over the last month.

With this series starting later tonight, here are the starting pitcher pairings for this crucial three-game series between the Yankees and Orioles:

Pitching duels between the Yankees and the Orioles

Friday, 19:05, YES: RHP Gerrit Cole (1-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Cade Povich (1-3, 6.51 ERA)

Saturday, 4:05 p.m., FS1: Luis Gil (9-5, 3.27 ERA) vs. Grayson Rodriguez (11-3, 3.52 ERA)

Sunday, 11:35 a.m., Roku: Carlos Rodon (9-7, 4.63 ERA) vs. Dean Kramer (4-5, 4.42 ERA)

Analysis: Cole is on the mound for the series opener on Friday night. In his last outing, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner continued to struggle against his nemesis — the Red Sox — as he struck out eight batters but allowed four runs on seven hits in just 4 1/3 innings. He could have been on his second win of the season, but he allowed Rafael Devers — who has destroyed Cole in his career (13-for-43, .333 batting average, eight home runs, 18 RBIs and a whopping 1.370 OPS) — to hit a home run for the lead in the fifth inning and manager Aaron Boone to strike out Cole before the Bronx Bombers scored seven runs in the second half of the inning, including a three-home run day by rookie Ben Rice.

The Yankees star was successful in his first start since his injury on June 19 against Baltimore, going four innings, allowing just two runs on three hits, having five strikeouts and reaching a no-decision.

Povich has by far had the worst start of his young career: In Baltimore’s 19-8 loss to the Athletics on July 6, the 24-year-old allowed eight runs, three walks and two home runs in one inning pitched. After failing to get an out and having already thrown 43 pitches in the second inning, manager Brandon Hyde decided to take the rookie right-hander out of the game.

There are two bright spots for Povich. First, he has a 2.70 ERA in three starts at Camden Yards this season, compared to a bloated 12.27 ERA in two road games. Second, he started in the Bronx, where he limited the damage despite allowing a season-high five walks as the Yankees allowed just one run on a single hit in 4 1/3 innings on June 19.

Despite suffering his fourth consecutive loss, Gil looked like his old self in his last appearance. He struck out nine batters for the first time since May 29 and allowed one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox last Sunday night. Although he did not allow a walk for the first time this season, Gil’s lone blemish, a seventh-inning solo home run against the aforementioned Yankee killer Devers, was enough to inflict another loss on the hard-throwing rookie after he won nine of 11 starts from April 21 to June 14.

Gil has had a mixed bag against the Orioles in 2024. On May 1, he pitched 6 1/3 innings of no hits with five strikeouts and just one walk in Baltimore. But things started to go wrong in his second matchup against the Orioles, when he got off to the worst start of his career on June 20, allowing eight hits, seven runs and two walks in just 1 1/3 innings.

One of the most impressive young pitchers in the league this season has been Grayson Rodriguez. The 24-year-old ranks second in MLB with 11 wins and has won six of his last seven starts since early June after a rocky start to his sophomore season. Although he didn’t perform at his best in his only start against the Yankees this year (three walks and three strikeouts), the Houston, Texas native still threw 5 2/3 shutout innings and picked up his fourth win of 2023 on April 29.

With Saturday’s game starting at 4:05 p.m., it’s worth noting how well Rodriguez has pitched, especially in day games, posting a 2.43 ERA with five wins in six starts and an opponents’ batting average of just .193 in 37 innings pitched.

Rodon will be called up for the final game of the first half. The veteran left-hander has had a similar trajectory to Gil, with both teams’ performance decline beginning in mid-June. It all fell apart early in his last appearance, when he allowed four runs on four hits to earn the Yankees’ fifth consecutive loss in a 5-3 loss to the Rays on Tuesday night.

Before this string of disappointing performances, Rodon struggled in his first 15 starts, and that was against the Orioles. In a 7-2 loss at Baltimore on May 2, he hit a season-high three home runs in four innings, allowed six runs on eight hits and finished with more walks (6) than strikeouts (5).

Kremer was tagged in his last outing, when he allowed seven runs (five earned) and pitched his shortest outing of 2024 (four innings pitched) in a 9-2 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday. The 28-year-old has a season-low 5.00 ERA in two July starts so far and has pitched significantly better on the road this year (2.73 ERA in 33 innings) than in front of the Baltimore faithful (6.58 ERA in five starts).

Much like his two teammates who started in that series, Kremer was able to limit the damage against the Bronx Bombers, pitching seven strong innings, allowing just two runs on four hits and picking up his second win of the season in a 4-2 victory over the Yankees on April 30.

Pitching duels between the Yankees and the Orioles

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