New York @ Baltimore preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 10, 2018 ) NY Yankees 5, Baltimore 6

The New York Yankees' aspirations to reside in the penthouse of the American League East have taken an inexplicable hit by the team languishing in the cellar of the division. The Yankees (59-31), who have lost five of nine encounters this season to the beleaguered Baltimore Orioles (26-66), bid for a split of their four-game series at Camden Yards on Wednesday.

All-Star shortstop Manny Machado, who has been the subject of consistent trade rumors, belted a pair of game-tying homers before Jonathan Schoop's RBI single in the ninth inning gave Baltimore a 6-5 triumph over New York. Machado is a robust 14-for-37 with six homers and 10 RBIs against the Yankees this season and 7-for-21 with six RBIs in his career versus Wednesday starter Sonny Gray. New York's Greg Bird launched a three-run homer to extend his hitting streak to four games, but saw Schoop's hard bouncer carom off his glove and into right field for the winning single. Didi Gregorius is 8-for-20 during his five-game hitting streak overall and 13-for-31 against Baltimore this season.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, YES (New York), MASN (Baltimore)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Sonny Gray (5-7. 5.85 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Dylan Bundy (6-8, 4.08)

Gray fell to 0-3 with a bloated 12.27 ERA in his last three starts after allowing five runs on six hits in two innings of Friday's 6-2 setback at Toronto. The 28-year-old has permitted 15 runs and three homers in that three-game stretch heading into Wednesday's tilt versus Baltimore, against which he yielded one run on four hits in six innings of a 4-1 victory on June 1. "I had two bad starts in a row. It's no secret," Gray told the New York Daily News. "But at the end of the day I get a chance to compete, a chance to go out there and try to win a baseball game."

Bundy saw his three-start winning streak halted on Friday as he was blitzed for six runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 6-2 setback at Minnesota in his first start off the disabled list. The 25-year-old had worked at least six innings in eight straight starts prior to injuring his ankle while running the bases. Brett Gardner is 6-for-16 in his career versus Bundy, who owns a 2-3 mark with a 5.34 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in seven career appearances against the Yankees.

WALK-OFFS

1. Schoop is 16-for-37 during his nine-game hitting streak.

2. New York 3B Miguel Andujar has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests.

3. While the Orioles have the edge in the season series against the Yankees, they are just 6-20 against the other AL East representatives.

PREDICTION: Yankees 5, Orioles 4