Kuroda tasked with avoiding a sweep.

They lost a heart breaker on Friday, were blown out on Saturday, now the Yankees will give the ball to Hiroki Kuroda, the most consistent of the Yankees starters this season, with the hopes that he can stop the four game losing skid and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Orioles.

Tonight's lineup, 8:05 PM @ Camden Yards:

Gardner CF
Ichiro RF
Cano 2B
Hafner DH
Almonte LF
Overbay 1B
Nix SS
Stewart C
Adams 3B

Kuroda P

Pitching preview:

Sabathia took a no-hitter into the 6th inning on Friday, but couldn't hold off a late comeback by the Birds. Then Davis Phelps got shelled, being charged with nine runs in 2 1/3 innings on Saturday.

Kuroda is coming off a no-decision against the Rangers in which he allowed only two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings, while walking only one and striking out six. He only has one win in his last seven starts, lack of run support being an issue, but has been able to keep his ERA at a low 2.77.

The last time that Kuroda faced the Orioles on May 22nd, things didn't go very well for the righty, as the O's bounced out for five runs on eight hits in only two innings of work.

He'll be opposed by Chris Tillman, who's having a very solid season for Baltimore, with a 9-2 record and 3.72 ERA. Tillman looks to finish off June on the right foot, having gone 5-0 over the past month.

Tillman ran into trouble early in his last start against the Cleveland Indians, but was able to hang around to go seven innings, giving up just three earned runs in a winning effort.

Yankee notes:

--Michael Pineda made his second start for Double-A Trenton on Sunday, but didn't have much success facing Noah Syndergaard, who's one of the Mets top pitching prospects, tossing only three innings, allowing four runs on four hits, while walking four and striking out four, throwing only 67 pitches.

Pineda has 8 days left on his minor league assignment, making it likely that he'll get one more start under his belt before the Yankees decide what to do with him.

--Manager Joe Girardi has mentioned a few days ago that he planned on starting Ivan Nova at some point in the week while the Yankees were in Minnesota, but he told the media before the game that it'll no longer happen.

Girardi said that the Yankees would use rotation of Pettitte-Hughes-Sabathia-Phelps for the four games against the Twins. It's unclear when Nova will get his next chance to start, but for now he'll continue to serve as the long-relief man in the bullpen.

Nova was brought in the relive the struggling Phelps in the 3rd inning, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out four over 5 2/3 innings. The two runs allowed came off of a Chris Davis blast in the 6th.

Tonight's game can be seen on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter. Enjoy the game!