Tap-In Question: Which team is better heading down the stretch: Orioles or Yankees? - BaltimoreBaseball.com
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Tap-In Question: Which team is better heading down the stretch: Orioles or Yankees?

I’m assuming you are back to work today. Which means, of course, you have time to come to the Tap Room, grab a seat and opine. Gotta love workdays.

It’s “Yankees Week” here in Balmer — with the Bronx Bombers in town through Wednesday — and it’s a series that means something in September. That never gets old.

With the Orioles (70-68) losing Monday afternoon, they are now 4 ½ games behind the Yankees (74-63) in the American League Wild Card race (and in the AL East standings) with 24 to play.

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In their season series so far, the Orioles are 5-8 against the Yankees with six remaining this season – seven if they end up as the two Wild Card teams.

To be honest, heading into April, I thought the Orioles would be the better team. I thought the Yankees might be more talented as an organization, but I figured they were still a year or two away from putting it all together. Whereas I thought the window on the Orioles was closing, and they would get at least another playoff run out of this group of guys.

I was wrong – so far, anyway. The Yankees, with their combination of youth and veterans, have been better than the Orioles, whose maddening inconsistency – especially involving the rotation – has tempered expectations.

Plus, the Yankees fortified their roster in July by adding, among others, Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Sonny Gray, who faces Kevin Gausman in an intriguing matchup Wednesday. The Orioles, meanwhile, added two under-the-radar acquisitions in Jeremy Hellickson and Tim Beckham; the latter has provided a tremendous but unexpected boost for this club.

The Orioles started off hot this year then tanked while the Yankees have been the more consistent squad. Now they have similar records, though the Orioles have been playing better recently (not including Monday, of course). The Orioles are 28-22 in the second half while the Yankees are 29-22; The Orioles are 19-14 since the beginning of August; the Yankees are 17-16 in that span.

Really, these two clubs look fairly even to me. The Orioles have a slightly better offense; the Yankees, statistically anyway, have much better pitching. If pushed, I guess I give the Yankees and pitching the edge. But it’s close.

Now, it’s your turn. Which team is better?

This isn’t April. This isn’t July. This isn’t 2018. Right now, in September, I want to know which team you think is better: The Orioles or the Yankees. And tell me why.

If you can, put away the orange-colored shot glasses and try to answer this one as objectively as possible.

Tap-In Question: Which team is better right now: Orioles or Yankees?

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