Yankees can win series tonight in Baltimore

BALTIMORE – After dropping the first game of the series vs. the Orioles 3-2, the Yankees rebounded on Tuesday wit a 8-3 victory. Tonight, the Yankees can clinch the series win with a win tonight in game three of the series.

While Yankees manager Joe Girardi is pleased with his team's performance this season, he knows there still room for improvement.

"I just think at times we've been a little inconsistent with that we've done," Girardi said. "Teams go through that. Other times, we've pitched really, really well and have not scored runs. Other times, we scored runs and not pitched really, really well. Through the course of the season, you're going to go through that, or you're going to end up with 120 wins and that has not happened."

"I still like the way we're playing. We have a chance every game."

These teams have split their first six meetings of 2017, with each taking two of three games at its home ballpark. Baltimore has won all 10 of its home series versus the Yankees since the beginning of 2014, going 22-8 in those encounters.

The Yankees are coming off a 4-2 homestand in which they captured a pair of series, two games to one. They improved their record in home series to 7-1 this season, tying Baltimore for the highest percentage (.875) in the American League.

The Orioles' losing streak is now seven games after getting swept by Houston at Camden Yards this weekend. It's Baltimore's longest skid since dropping nine in a row in July 2011. The Orioles have been outscored, 38-17, during their current slump.

Aaron Judge has connected for home runs on 43.3 percent (13/30) of the fly balls he's lifted this season. That's the highest rate by any hitter in baseball (minimum 20 fly balls), and roughly two and a half times the MLB average (17.2 percent).

Aaron Hicks is hitting 130 points higher on the road (.358) than he is at home (228). Among American Leaguers with at least 125 plate appearances, only Jose Altuve has fared so much better away from his own ballpark (.237 home, .403 road, +.166).

Masahiro Tanaka will make his 11th start of the season tonight at Baltimore. The 28-year-old will start on regular four days' rest. He is 5-4 with a 5.86 ERA in 2017.

In six starts versus the AL East this season, Dylan Bundy is 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA. That contrasts sharply with his performance last year, when Bundy went 2-4 with a 7.76 ERA over seven starts against his division rivals.