Orioles at Rangers
The Baltimore Orioles put together one of their best four-game stretches of the season just over a week ago at home against the Texas Rangers, but things haven't gone quite as smooth since. The Orioles will try to find the magic with the bats again when they visit the Rangers for the opener of a three-game series on Friday.
Baltimore swept a four-game series from Texas at home July 17-20 while scoring a total of 34 runs but slowed down a bit with the bats while managing 30 total runs and going 2-4 over its last six contests. The Rangers seemed to be getting their pitching back on track after that series against Baltimore until Wednesday, when ace Yu Darvish was lit up and they ended up dropping a 22-10 decision to the Miami Marlins. "As far as tonight, look, offense put some runs on the board, got sideways on the pitching side of it," Texas manager Jeff Banister told reporters after the loss. "There are going to be nights like that. They're all going to lay their head down tonight, they'll have an off-day tomorrow. They'll show up (Friday) ready to play." The Rangers will try to get a better performance out of right-hander Andrew Cashner, who starts on Friday opposite Orioles righty Chris Tillman.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, MASN 2 (Baltimore), FSN Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Chris Tillman (1-5, 7.01 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Andrew Cashner (5-8, 3.64)
Tillman is trying to end a stretch of 12 straight winless starts and was held out of the decision in each of the last five. The 29-year-old was reached for three runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings against Houston on Saturday - the sixth time in his last seven starts that he failed to complete six innings. The lone outlier in that stretch came against Texas on July 17, when Tillman breezed through six frames while allowing one run and two hits.
Cashner went up against Tillman in that July 17 contest and matched him through the first six innings before running into trouble and ending up with a loss while yielding three runs in 6 2/3 frames. The veteran Texan bounced back at Tampa Bay on Saturday, earning a win while allowing three runs in six frames. Cashner surrendered six of the seven home runs he has allowed this season at home but owns a 2.50 ERA in front of the home fans.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre needs four hits to reach 3,000 for his career.
2. Baltimore 1B Chris Davis (illness) returned to the lineup on Wednesday following a two-game absence and went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
3. Texas RF Nomar Mazara went 4-for-8 with four RBIs in his last two games, following a seven-game hitless stretch.