YGY Series Preview Show: Yankees-Orioles (6/28-6/30)

The New York Yankees (42-36) concluded their homestand at 4-5 as they dropped two of three to the AL West leading Texas Rangers. The Yankees did have their moments in this series, such as hitting three home runs off of Yu Darvish on Tuesday, ending the night with a walk-off home run from Ichiro Suzuki. But, there was also a bad pitching performance from Andy Pettitte on Wednesday and a horrific performance by the offense on Thursday afternoon. In that game, the Yankees’ bats managed just two hits against Derek Holland and only allowed him to throw barely over 90 pitches. Of course, there has been off-the-field drama as well involving the general manager Brian Cashman and injured third baseman Alex Rodriguez as A-Rod tries to come back to the team after hip surgery during the offseason. With all the negative news surrounding the Bronx Bombers right now, they face a tall task this weekend against a formidable AL East rival.

looks to continue his impressive first half of the season against the Yankees this weekend. (Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Despite their recent struggles, the Baltimore Orioles (44-36) have managed to stay close to the top of the AL East all season. Manager Buck Showalter can boast that the O’s have the best slugging percentage in all of Major League Baseball, led by AL MVP frontrunner Chris Davis. The first baseman has 28 home runs, but also leads the team with a .330 batting average. The starting pitching has taken a hit for Baltmore in terms of injury, plus the news that heralded pitching prospect Dylan Bundy will be undergoing Tommy John Surgery. It will be great as well to see Brian Roberts back at second base for the Orioles.  That being said, the Orioles and Yankees both have a chance to put separation between each other as they will play six times over the next ten days!

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show (recorded Wednesday), presented by BaldVinny.com, I talk about my take on the feud between Cashman and A-Rod and the promising rehab so far of Michael Pineda. Then, I spoke with Michael Natelli, a writer on the Washington DC   regional site Alloverthehill.com about the Orioles’ recent struggles, concerns from Jim Johnson at closer, X-Factors, and much more in this series.

CLICK HERE FOR THE YANKEES-ORIOLES SERIES PREVIEW SHOW!!!