Sonny Gray Out To Bounce Back In The Finale As New York Takes On Baltimore

Sonny Gray will get the start in the finale Wednesday in Maryland as New York will take on Baltimore at Camden Yards. 

Since Sonny Gray was acquired from Oakland though at the July 31st trade deadline he has received very little or no run support from the New York offense could that change in the finale against Baltimore? 

Kevin Gausman will attempt to keep his second-half surge intact against the Yankees' lineup on Wednesday night as the American League East rivals are scheduled to complete their three-game series at Camden Yards. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

The Baltimore right-hander has been excellent in his last two starts, firing 13 2/3 scoreless innings against the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Gausman has permitted just nine hits and four walks over that span, striking out 13. He'll try to keep it going and extend New York's struggles in Baltimore. The Yanks have not won a series at the O's home since the start of the 2014 season. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

Sonny Gray draws the starting call for the Yankees and will hope for better results than his last outing, in which he tied a career high by serving up three home runs in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

"Any time you go out there and you give up three homers, it's tough on the whole team," Gray said. "It kind of takes all the momentum or anything you might be trying to put together and completely flips it to the other team. It's hard to win games when your pitcher gives up three homers." "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

That outing aside, the long ball has not been an issue for Gray, who had served up just seven in his previous 121 innings going into that start. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

The Yankees have struggled to provide Gray, a prized acquisition in advance of the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline, with run support, part of the reason that the right-hander is 2-4 with a 3.16 ERA through his first six starts for the Yankees. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

All three home runs Gray allowed in his last start came off fastballs, marking only the second time in his career that he has given up multiple homers via four-seamers or two-seamers in the same game. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

Aaron Judge has hit just two homers since Aug. 16, but he seems to see the ball well off Gausman. The slugging rookie is 5-for-11 (.455) against Gausman, having hit a pair of homers against him on April 28 in New York. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

Gausman is likely to face Yankees first baseman Greg Bird, who was his catcher at Grandview High School in Aurora, Colo. Gausman has had Bird's number thus far in their previous two big league meetings, as Bird is 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a walk against the righty. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170905252699806/gausman-os-out-to-deny-yankees-at-home/?game_pk=492186

As for New York and Baltimore's last game, New York blew their lead while Baltimore won on a walk-off home run by Manny Machado.

Two pitchers a starter in New York left-hander veteran CC Sabathia and reliever Dellin Betances giving up homers is not a recipe for success instead it's a recipe for disaster and that's what happened on Tuesday night in Baltimore.

After having been crowned the American League's Player of the Month for August, Manny Machado is showing no signs of slowing down. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

Machado hit a two-out, two-run homer -- his second blast of the game -- off Dellin Betances in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete the Orioles' comeback from a five-run deficit, allowing them to walk off with a 7-6 victory over the Yankees in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. The long, arduous win -- which started with a two-hour, 14-minute rain delay -- finished a few minutes before 1 a.m. ET. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

"We're confident with everyone we have in here," said Machado, who has 14 home runs and 38 RBIs since Aug. 1. "We're going to do everything possible, keep playing like a team and do the things that count, and things will turn out the way they need to. We just need to control going out there and giving it our all." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

The win kept the O's a game behind the Angels for the second American League Wild Card, with the Yankees falling 3 1/2 back of the Red Sox in the AL East race. The Yanks saw their lead for the first AL Wild Card cut to 2 1/2 over the Angels, falling one out shy of breaking their own hex at Camden Yards. New York has not won a series in Baltimore since the beginning of the 2014 season. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

After recording the first two outs of the ninth, Betances walked Tim Beckham on five pitches before Machado made Betances pay for hanging a 1-0 breaking ball. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

"He's a really good hitter. He's a great hitter, obviously," Betances said. "When you leave a pitch like that to a guy like that, he's going to usually punish it. That's what he did tonight." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

Machado -- who has a team-leading 32 homers -- also went deep in the third inning, trading blasts with close friend and teammate Jonathan Schoop. Schoop went yard in the fifth off Yankees starter CC Sabathia, with Mark Trumbo belting a two-run homer in the sixth to bring Baltimore within a run. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

"It was just one of those nights," Sabathia said. "When we made mistakes, they didn't miss them." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

Sabathia went 5 1/3 innings and allowed five earned runs on eight hits. He lasted much longer than Orioles starter Jeremy Hellickson, who recorded just seven outs. Hellickson walked four and allowed five runs (three earned). Ubaldo Jimenez tossed a scoreless sixth inning in his return to the bullpen. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

The Yankees jumped on Hellickson's early command woes, as a key third-inning error by center fielder Adam Jones and Didi Gregorius' two-run single helped chase the right-hander. New York tacked on after reliever Richard Bleier entered with the bases loaded, taking what appeared to be a commanding five-run lead. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

[There were] some great innings pitched out of our bullpen tonight to hold them," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "It's a tough lineup to hold down." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

 Machado again played the part of hero, picking up his third walk-off homer in 19 days, having launched blasts on Aug. 18 against the Angels and Aug. 23 against the Athletics. Machado has 14 homers since Aug. 1 and has been a critical component of the O's success. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

"I'm just looking for something up I can do damage with," Machado said. "I'm up in the count. walk-off/Just looking for a good pitch I can hit." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

Orioles reliever Brad Brach got into trouble as the Yankees attempted to pad their lead in the eighth inning. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single and Brett Gardner legged out a one-out infield hit, but Brach recovered to strike out Aaron Judge looking and induced Starlin Castro to foul out, keeping the deficit at one run. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/

"This is a huge game for us. This is the time of the year, if you're going to make a push, we need to do it now. It was a picture-perfect inning. You couldn't ask for anything more. The fact that we stayed close in the game and kind of built up a little momentum is pretty cool, too." -- Trumbo "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-off/The last player with three walk-off homers in as short of a span as Machado was Sammy Sosa, who had three walk-off homers in 1996 (also 19 days). "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/252730708/manny-machado-caps-orioles-rally-with-walk-

With the loss, New York drops to 74-64 and is now 2.5 games back of their American League East rival Boston who is leading the division with a record of 78-61. With the win, Baltimore improves to 71-68 on the season and is seven games behind Boston. 

New York and Baltimore will play their finale Wednesday at Camden Yards. Right -hander Sonny Gray who has a record of 8-9 with a 3.36 earn run average will start for New York. Gray served up three homers in his last start against Boston on Sept. 1st charged with four runs in seven innings despite striking out nine. He is 2-4 in six starts since being traded to the Yankees, who have provided him with little run support. He will go up against Baltimore right -hander Kevin Gausman who has a record of 10-9 with a 4.79 earn run average. Gausman was an afterthought in Friday's 13-inning win, but the righty has been solid. Gausman owns a 2.55 earn run average and has struck out 16 over his last 17/2/3 innings. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/yankees-vs-orioles/2017/09/06/492186#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=492186

Will Sonny Gray pitch well enough unlike his last outing against Boston where he served up three homers while being charged with four runs although he struck out nine to give New York a chance to win? Will the offense be able to back Sonny Gray's start this go around or will the trend of not getting any run support for Sonny Gray who was acquired from Oakland at the July 31st deadline continue? Will the Baltimore offense be able to get their offense going against Sonny Gray? Will New York or Baltimore win the series? 

First pitch is set for 7:05 pm. The game will be televised on MASN and Yes. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/yankees-vs-orioles/2017/09/06/492186#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=492186