New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles Prediction & Match Preview - May 18th

The New York Yankees visit the Baltimore Orioles for the third game of their four-game series at Camden Yards.

At the time of writing, the Yankees had just beaten the Orioles 6-2 in the opening game of their series. New York currently has a 26-9 record, while Baltimore is at 14-22.

It will be a battle of righties on the mound as ace Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole will take on Baltimore's Jordan Lyles. Despite numerous criticisms, Cole is 3-0 this season.

Match Details

Fixture: New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles.

Date & Time: Wednesday, May 18, 7:05 p.m. EDT.

Venue: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland.

New York Yankees Preview

The New York Yankees have been superb throughout the first phase of the season. They are the best team in the league, sporting a 26-9 win-loss card. Stable pitching combined with hot bats has been the key to the Yankees' success so far.

The team looks virtually unbeatable as they are in the top ten in team pitching and batting statistics so far. The Yankees also boast the top performing bullpen at the moment with a 2.51 ERA and only 37 earned runs surrendered.

Try as they might, but it seems like the Orioles will be running into a brick wall in this affair.

Key Player - Giancarlo Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton is off to a hot start this season. He carries a slash line of .289/.329/.547 with an OPS of .876 and has blasted ten homers with 32 RBIs, which is the second-best in all of the majors, on 37 base hits.

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"Anthony Rizzo now has 10 home runs, joining Aaron Judge (12) and Giancarlo Stanton (10) in the 10-HR club. This is the first time in Yankees history that the team had three players with double-digit home runs within the team's first 35 games of a season." - @ ESPN Stats & Info

The 2017 NL MVP, along with his smash buddies Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge, have propelled the Yankees to heights that were last seen almost a decade ago. Expect no less but production from Stanton in this relatively easy matchup against the Baltimore Orioles.

New York Yankees Projected Lineup

Starting Pitcher: Gerrit Cole.

DJ LeMahieu, 2B
Aaron Judge, RF
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Giancarlo Stanton, DH
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Joey Gallo, LF
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
Jose Trevino, C
Aaron Hicks, CF

Baltimore Orioles Preview

At the time of writing, the Baltimore Orioles had lost four straight games and are now the new basement team in the American League East. With the Boston Red Sox's win earlier, they have overtaken the Orioles for fourth place.

This doesn't come as a surprise though, as the O's were expected to struggle and rebuild this season given the lack of offseason moves they made to bolster their roster.

Baltimore's batting order outside of Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins, and Trey Mancini has been almost obsolete. It's their pitching that's carrying the load as their crew are in the top half of the league in most of the team pitching categories. Hopefully, their efforts won't go in vain against the Yankees.

Key Player - Anthony Santander

Anthony Santander homers against the New York Yankees

We've selected Anthony Santander to pick up the mantle for the Baltimore Orioles offense in this match-up. Santander had just come off a two-home run game against the Yankees and those were the only two runs that the Orioles scored on the night.

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"Two homers for Tony Tater! 💣" - Baltimore Orioles

He now has six homers and 16 RBIs on 28 base hits this season. Santander will, however, need his teammates to step up if they want a shot to upset the New York Yankees.

Baltimore Orioles Projected Lineup

Starting Pitcher: Jordan Lyles

Cedric Mullins, CF
Trey Mancini, DH
Anthony Santander, RF
Austin Hays, LF
Tyler Nevin, 1B
Rougned Odor, 2B
Ramon Urias, 3B
Robinson Chirinos, C
Jorge Mateo, SS