Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — The Texas Rangers go for a three-game series sweep Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Park, where the forecast calls for 100 degrees and clear skies at game time.
Texas will try to stretch its season-series edge to five games in six meetings. The Rangers won the first two games of this set, beating Baltimore 5-1 on Saturday and 2-1 on Friday. The Orioles’ only win in the season series came April 1 in Baltimore.
Baltimore enters at 56-61 and has dropped four of its past five. The Orioles are 1-2 on this Texas trip after losing two straight. They will head to Minnesota on Monday to begin a three-game series before traveling to Tampa Bay.
Texas, at 59-58, has won three straight and four of its past six. After Sunday, the Rangers begin a four-game series at the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, then visit the Athletics.
Kyle Bradish is a player to watch for Baltimore. In his most recent start Saturday at Texas, he took the loss but pitched six innings and allowed five hits with no earned runs and four strikeouts. He also worked six innings July 22 at Boston, allowing one earned run. Jackson Holliday homered and drove in two in Saturday’s loss. Reliever Rico Garcia struck out two over a scoreless inning.
Jacob deGrom is Texas’s player to watch. He earned the win Saturday against Baltimore by allowing one earned run over five innings with three hits and nine strikeouts. Corey Seager hit a home run and drove in three in that game. Peyton Gray threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout.
The Interstat game simulator projects a 5-4 Baltimore victory. However, Interstat’s ELO system gives Texas a 53.4 percent probability to win. Baltimore is installed as a 1.5-run favorite, and the over/under is set at 8.5.
The Orioles have had trouble scoring in this series, managing only two runs over two games. Texas, meanwhile, has gotten timely hitting and strong pitching from its bullpen. The Rangers also lead the head-to-head series 4-1, with the lone loss coming in the teams’ final game of a March/April set.
Check how the teams handle Sunday’s 100-degree heat, because any game played under clear skies in Arlington in August can test both pitching staffs. Baltimore will need Bradish’s recent efficiency to show up from its staff, while Texas will rely on the momentum deGrom created Saturday.
The opener of the series Friday was decided by one run. Sunday’s finale offers a similar matchup of postseason-hopeful Texas against a Baltimore club still trying to climb above .500. With the heat, the bullpens could be decisive in determining whether the Rangers finish the sweep.