Yankees seek 12th straight home victory over Orioles

Gerrit Cole was pleased his father was among the fans at Yankee Stadium for his season debut, he just was disappointed with the outcome.

Cole seeks his first win as a Yankee in front of the crowd at Yankee Stadium when New York goes for its 12th straight home win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

Cole went 5-1 with a 2.42 ERA in seven home starts last year when the Yankees played in an empty ballpark with noise and music piped in. On Thursday, he took a no-decision when he allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cole began his second season in front of 10,850 fans, which is about 20 percent capacity as mandated by New York State. Among those in the stands was his father, Mark, who grew up in upstate New York and became a Yankee fan.

"He was pretty emotional, so a special moment for him," Cole said Monday afternoon. "He really likes the suite level. I guess there's a lot of photographs of longtime Yankees franchise players and, some rare ones, some moments he remembered.

"So I think all in all it's a pretty great day for him. Obviously, would have liked to cap it off with a win. But it was a long time in the making. So, a special day."

Cole was not able to get a win because of a misplaced slider that Teoscar Hernandez hit over the fence in the sixth.

Cole is 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA in five career starts against the Orioles. In his last start against Baltimore, Cole fanned nine during a two-hitter in the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader in New York on Sept. 11.

The right-hander will be pitching after New York opened the series with a 7-0 win Monday night, matching its longest home winning streak over Baltimore. Aaron Judge hit his first homer, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a mammoth 471-foot grand slam after going hitless in his first 10 at-bats.

"The way he hits them is just different," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Stanton. "It's something else. He's a unicorn."

The Orioles outscored the host Boston Red Sox 18-5 in an impressive three-game sweep but are coming off a quiet night. Baltimore mustered four hits and struck out 13 times on Monday and has been outscored 69-28 since its last win in New York on March 31, 2019.

Cedric Mullins had one of Baltimore's hits and is off to a sizzling 10-for-17 start.

Perhaps the best moment of Baltimore's latest loss in New York was Mac Sceroler striking out Judge with the bases loaded for his first career strikeout and pitching 2 2/3 innings in his major-league debut.

"Hats off to him making his debut, punching out Judge to get out of that inning and throwing two great innings after that," Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. "That's something he'll never forget."

Dean Kremer, who was 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA in four starts last season, gets the start for Baltimore. Kremer made two starts against the Yankees last season and held New York to one run and one hit in six innings in his major-league debut on Sept. 6 in Baltimore.

Kremer struggled through spring training by going 0-1 with a 6.32 ERA in five starts spanning 15 2/3 innings.

--Field Level Media