The Orioles have fallen into a pattern of swapping out relievers in their bullpen and scrambling to learn about the opposing starter. They've facing another newbie tonight in New York, where right-hander Luis Cessa will make his second major league start and 10th appearance. Cessa joins a recent list that includes the Astros' Mike Fiers and Joe Musgrove, and the Nationals' A.J. Cole and Reynaldo Lopez. Go back to the last West Coast trip and you'll find the Athletics' Zach Neal and the...

The Orioles have fallen into a pattern of swapping out relievers in their bullpen and scrambling to learn about the opposing starter.

They've facing another newbie tonight in New York, where right-hander Luis Cessa will make his second major league start and 10th appearance.

Cessa joins a recent list that includes the Astros' Mike Fiers and Joe Musgrove, and the Nationals' A.J. Cole and Reynaldo Lopez. Go back to the last West Coast trip and you'll find the Athletics' Zach Neal and the Giants' Madison Bumgarner.

Bumgarner may seem like an odd inclusion in the group, but he'd never pitched against the Orioles. They probably had lots of video on him, though.

Steve Pearce is the only Oriole who's stepped to the plate against Cessa, going hitless in two at-bats. The small sample size will become part of the scouting report. It may read something like this:

"I sort of remember him, but let me check the video."

Cessa, 24, is 3-0 with a 4.01 ERA in 24 2/3 innings, with 11 earned runs (12 total), 20 hits, and five home runs.

In his only start on Saturday, Cessa shut out the Angels on three hits over six innings in a 5-1 win.

Left-handers are batting only .181 against Cessa and right-handers are hitting .241.

Yovani Gallaro is the familiar one in this matchup. He faced the Yankees on July 20 in the Bronx and allowed four runs over seven innings in a 5-0 loss.

One of those periods when the bats were silent.

Gallardo is 1-2 with a 5.47 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees and 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts in the Bronx, with six runs and nine hits in 13 innings.

Starlin Castro is 16-for-44 (.364) with three doubles against Gallardo. Chase Headley is 9-for-25 (.360) with a home run, Jacoby Ellsbury is 5-for-14 with a double and triple, and Mark Teixeira is 3-for-12 with two home runs.

Didi Gregorius is 1-for-13.

The Orioles are expected to activate T.J. McFarland from the disabled list and put him in the bullpen for tonight's game. He worked one scoreless inning last night with Double-A Bowie and threw 12 pitches.

I can't remember the last time that I missed a series at Yankee Stadium, but my daughter is getting married this weekend and she wouldn't go along with my "train back and forth" idea. MASNsports.com colleague Steve Melewski will be with the team if he doesn't get lost in Queens. Those subways go in both directions.

I'll continue to file morning blog entries, but I may be distracted later in the day.

I'm not going to cry. I've got this!

Instant update: I'm probably gonna cry.