Yankees poised for series against upset-minded and pesky Orioles

The Yankees welcome the Baltimore Orioles to Yankee Stadium tonight for the first of four games that have “uh-oh” written all over them. With their season all but lost, this is a team with nothing to lose and the Yankees will need to be at their best to hold down the fort.

The Yankees, on paper, should have no trouble putting away the Orioles this weekend, thereby extending their series win streak to five by taking three of the four games against a team that is all but eliminated in the Wild Card standings.

At 72-74, the Orioles have done their usual fade in the second half of the season, despite the constant pressure Buck Showalter, the former manager of the New York Yankees, puts on his team to play hard and win. As late as June 7, the Orioles were five games over .500, challenging the Yankees and Red Sox for first place in the AL East.

As with previous seasons with the same start, most observers were waiting for the sky to fall in on the Orioles, and it did. Baltimore is a franchise in trouble. With only seven remaining home dates, the team ranks 22nd in attendance this season and it will be a struggle to break even the 2 million mark.

This, despite having one of the best, if not the best venues in baseball at Camden Yards. But that’s another story for the telling some other time.

Noticeably, the Orioles were silent at the trade deadline and that decline in attendance is a big reason why. At the time, their team needed starting pitching to remain competitive. No moves, no positive results.

The team is also paying now for a hands-tying contract they signed with power hitting Chris Davis, when Orioles fans were screaming at the front office to “do something” to retain this guy. They did, signing Davis to a $161 million contract that extends to 2022.

But don’t get the wrong idea because the Orioles are still powered by Showalter, whose genius and control of technology makes him a bigger force than anyone in the Orioles lineup for any team that takes the field against him.

Yankees setting up rotation

Joe Girardi, according to ESPN’s Yankee schedule, has inserted Jordan Montgomery to pitch Saturday’s game, leaving open Sonny Gray for the opener against the Minnesota Twins, who follow the Orioles in as the Bomber’s foremost challenger in the Wild Card Race.

Unlike the Toronto Blue Jays, who the Yankees play six more times, the Orioles haven’t rolled over. They can beat the Yankees on any given night, while the Yankees can only beat themselves when they play the Blue Jays.

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This, then, is the conundrum facing the team tonight and for the remainder of the weekend. Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Luis Severino are all lined up to face the Orioles. It should be cruise control time for the Yankees, except it isn’t.

Yankees remain in a pressure cooker

The Yankees will play out the string in a pressure cooker, and that will only escalate if the Red Sox show any signs of faltering and the push for a Division title becomes real.

This has a good side to it, though, when you consider, for example, if the Indians are peaking too soon, putting them in line for a letdown that coincides with the playoffs. You never know in this game.

But to me, the Yankees are in a far better position because of the pressure factor and the need to concentrate and play well right down to the final game of the season, if it takes that much.

Next: What it will take for the Yankees to win it all!

It shouldn’t, but in case it does, the Yankees will be better for it. Tanaka takes the torch tonight. The Orioles will be ready. And finally, we can say the Yankees will be ready too.