Remember the last time the O’s had to go all the way to Texas for just one game?
After taking two of three against the Blue Jays, the O’s will have to fly cross-country to take on the Texas Rangers for a one-game match-up before flying back home to take on the San Diego Padres.
The game was originally scheduled on April 17th but was postponed due to the state of Texas getting slammed by a torrential and deadly storm.
We should be in for an entertaining contest between the two first place clubs, as the Orioles (40-28) own a slight 1.0-game lead over the Boston Red Sox (39-29) for first place in the AL East while the Rangers (45-25) have built a comfortable 8.5-game advantage over the Seattle Mariners (36-33) for first place in the AL West.
The Orioles head into Arlington boasting a 5-5 mark over their last ten games and a 4-2 mark over their last six, but will be looking to improve upon their 14-16 record on the road and their 6-9 record versus the AL West.
The Rangers are on a phenomenal run of form as of late, and are set to host the O’s while riding a six-game winning streak after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals, and a stellar 8-2 record over their last ten games. The Rangers also own a superb 24-10 record at Globe Life Park in Arlington The Ballpark in Arlington.
After taking two of the first three contests in the “would-have-been” four-game set back in April, the Rangers own a minimal 16-15 advantage over the Orioles since the start of the 2012 campaign. Here’s to letting Buck get even (literally) with his former club!
Kevin Gausman (0-4, 4.14 ERA) will take on Derek Holland (5-5, 5.14 ERA) in Monday’s make-up match.
Gausman will be looking to do two things on Monday: finally earn his first win of the season, and more importantly, shake off a woeful start against the Red Sox on June 15th in which he allowed six runs on seven hits over just three innings in a 4-6 loss.
Gausman is 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA in three games (two starts) versus the Rangers in his young career, but will be looking to build off of his recent success against Texas. In two starts against them in 2015, Gausman went 0-1 and recorded a stellar 2.77 ERA with 10 Ks in 13 innings. He recorded 6.1 shutout innings against them on July 2nd, 2015, but received a no-decision in the 2-0 loss.
Holland, 29, has been struggling as of late, posting a 1-1 record with a 6.32 ERA over his last three starts, but he’s also facing an O’s squad that he’s owned in the past.
Over eight games (seven starts) versus the Orioles, Holland has recorded a 5-2 record with an impressive 2.94 ERA and has held the O’s sluggers to a lowly .214 batting average. In his last start against the O’s on August, 30th, 2015, Holland was spectacular while scattering only three hits over nine shutout innings with zero walks to 11 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout 6-0 win.
These two teams are very similar as far as their offensive approach goes – hit for a decent average, score at a high rate and first and foremost, hit a ton of long balls.
To wit, the O’s lead the MLB in homers (107) while ranking third in the AL in runs per game (4.83) and fifth in batting average (.263). The Rangers boast the fourth-best offense in the AL (4.8 runs per game) while ranking tied for sixth in the AL in home runs (86) and fourth in batting average (.265).
With Manny Machado currently serving his suspension, the red-hot Jonathan Schoop (.278, 12 HR, 41 RBI) and Adam Jones (.245, 13 HR, 41 RBI) will lead the charge for the O’s along with the ever-dangerous presence of Mark Trumbo (.278, 20 HR, 51 RBI) and Chris Davis (.229, 16 HR, 41 RBI, .348 OBP).
The Rangers have a dynamic quartet in the form of the red-hot Ian Desmond (.309, 10 HR, 45 RBI), ageless wonder/future hall-of-famer Adrian Beltre (.278, 10 HR, 42 RBI) and future superstars Rougned Odor (.276, 13 HR, 34 RBI) and Nomar Mazara (.293, 11 HR, 30 RBI).
With both teams in the middle of promising seasons, this one-game series could take on some ‘’crystal ball’’ characteristics.
What I mean is this could be an early-season preview of a playoff match-up.
Which means…this one could get intense, folks! Enjoy. And here’s to a similar result to the one we saw the last time the O’s had a one-game “series” in Texas.
