Yankees looking to stay hot offensively in finale vs. O’s

While they were producing consistently good at-bats at the plate, the New York Yankees were flirting with history on the mound Saturday afternoon.

After finishing six outs shy of a no-hitter, the Yankees look to keep delivering offensively Sunday when they host the Baltimore Orioles.

New York has amassed 36 hits and scored 19 runs over their past three games following a six-game losing streak that featured a 30-inning scoreless streak.

“Three in a row now and I would put (a 5-3 loss on Friday) very much in that mix, but at the same time, that’s who they are, what they’re capable of,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of his hitters. “We’ve seen that the last few days now … the heavy at-bats have returned.”

While Clarke Schmidt was pitching seven hitless innings Saturday, Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, J.C. Escarra and Anthony Volpe hit solo homers as the Yankees cruised to a 9-0 rout. It was the eighth time this season New York finished with at least four homers, and the first instance since May 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Volpe had three hits after going hitless in 25 at-bats. He hit an infield single before homering and getting another single.

The Orioles are 14-7 in their past 21 games but head into the series finale short-handed. Gary Sanchez, who had the only hit Saturday when he got a single in the eighth inning, started at catcher after Adley Rutschman was placed on the injured list with a strained left oblique.

The Orioles also lost Jordan Westburg to a jammed left index finger; he exited after stealing a base in the first inning. He is day to day after an X-ray was negative but is unlikely to play Sunday.

Baltimore also was blanked for the seventh time Saturday and Gunnar Henderson saw a career-high-tying 14-game hitting streak stopped.

“We’re playing some good baseball right now. I know today didn’t look great, but the past couple weeks have been very positive,” Westburg said. “There’s a lot of good things to take away from the past couple weeks, so we hope (Rutschman) is back and this is a short stint, but for the rest of the guys in this clubhouse, I think it’s the next man up mentality and we find a way to win ball games.”

After Schmidt’s dominant outing, New York’s Will Warren (4-4, 4.83 ERA) will attempt to avoid dropping consecutive starts for the second time in the series finale. Warren took the loss Tuesday to the Los Angeles Angels when he allowed three runs on six hits in six innings while also recording a career-high 11 strikeouts.

Warren is 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA in his past three starts since getting tagged for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 31.

The right-hander’s only previous start against the Orioles was April 28 in Baltimore, when he allowed four runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings and took the loss.

After getting short outings from Tomoyuki Sugano (3 2/3 innings) and Zach Eflin (3 innings) in the first two games of the series, the Orioles will start right-hander Dean Kremer (6-7, 4.80).

Kremer bounced back from a pair of rough outings by allowing one run on four hits in five innings in Tuesday’s 5-1 win at Tampa Bay. He is 4-3 with a 4.40 ERA in 12 career starts against the Yankees.

–Field Level Media