The New York Yankees are scheduled to play six games against the Baltimore Orioles in the final month of the regular season. While the Orioles won’t likely make it to October, they could spoil manager Aaron Boone’s plans.
According to Orioles beat writer Tremayne Person, the Yankees should exercise caution against their unpredictable AL East rivals, who are scoring in high volume and just pulled off a clean sweep against the San Diego Padres on the road.
For the Orioles, a lot is working in their favor. Dylan Beavers is slashing an impressive .314/.426/.451 in his first 16 games. Their fringe players are also doing well. That’s the thing about spoiler teams. They come with a knockout punch when you least expect it.
The Toronto Blue Jays sit atop the division by roughly three games, while the Boston Red Sox remain tied with New York, fighting for positioning in the Wild Card picture.
Yankees’ September scare ends with Baltimore
In the second-to-last week of the month, the Yankees will travel to Camden Yards to play the three-game set. The Orioles are currently 31-37 at home, but if their players continue to click like they have during the West Coast trip, their record could be much better.
Finally, the Yankees will host the Orioles for the final three-game series. The Yankees are much better at home (41-28) than they are on the road (36-34), but we have seen some late-inning meltdowns from them.
It remains to be seen if the Yankees find themselves on the right side of October baseball, and one way to do that is to overcome the Orioles.
