The Birds are back in Arlington for the first time since last year’s ALDS. Hopefully the outcome is different this time.
The “second half” of the Orioles’ 2024 season gets underway in the stadium where their 2023 run came to an end, Globe Life Field in Arlington. For the team’s quintet of All-Stars, it won’t be much of a journey. They just played on this field Tuesday while helping the American League to yet another win in the Midsummer Classic.
The Orioles will be hoping to carry some sort of momentum over from Sunday, when they walked off against the Yankees in hilarious fashion. Even with that win included, the team is still just 9-13 in their last 22 games, their grimmest stretch of the season. With the Red Sox surging and assuming the Yankees get themselves together, the Orioles will be under some pressure to sort things out in the weeks ahead.
The Rangers are in a different situation. At 46-50, the defending World Series champions have had a tough campaign. But they are 9-4 over their last 13 games and have trimmed their AL West deficit from nine games to five. They are on the razor’s edge of buying or selling at the upcoming trade deadline. A dramatic weekend in either direction could make a big difference in how their front office chooses to approach things in the next 10 days.
It hasn’t been all that long since these two teams last faced off. The Orioles took three out of four from the Rangers at Camden Yards from June 27-30. That series started and ended with a pair of 11-2 blowouts, one in each direction. In between there were two one-run games that the O’s managed to pull out.
Injuries have been a problem for Texas to this point, and that doesn’t look like it will change this weekend. Evan Carter, Josh Jung, Jacob deGrom, and Dane Dunning are getting closer to a return, but none of them are expected to be ready during this series.
Game 1: Friday, July 19th, 8:05 p.m., MASN 2
RHP Corbin Burnes (9-4, 2.43 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi
The O’s ace must have used his start in the All-Star Game as a bullpen of sorts. He threw 19 pitches and maxed out at 98.6 mph on his cutter. His last appearance for the Orioles came on July 10 against the Cubs. On that day he allowed three runs on nine hits and five strikeouts over six innings.
The Rangers are yet to officially announce any of their starters for the weekend, but reporter Jeff Wilson tweeted out that Eovaldi, Max Scherzer, and Andrew Heaney would take the ball. Eovaldi always seems to do well against the Orioles, so that’s a bummer. And he is in fine form. Over his last three starts he has thrown 21 innings and allowed three earned runs while striking out 18.
Game 2: Saturday, July 20th, 7:05 p.m., MASN 2
RHP Grayson Rodriguez (11-4, 3.88 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer
Until the Orioles add to their rotation, there is going to be immense pressure on Rodriguez to deliver. The second-year hurler has had an up-and-down month of starts, including some poor starts against the Astros and Yankees. His stuff is always nasty, but control has been a problem recently.
Texas is being careful with the veteran Scherzer. He threw just 71 pitches in his last start before the break, but he allowed only one run over four innings. The O’s scored twice against him back in late June, chasing him from the game after 5.1 innings.
Game 3: Sunday, July 21st, 2:35 p.m., MASN 2
RHP Dean Kremer (4-5, 4.38 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney
It’s been a struggle for Kremer this season. He labored through 4.2 innings against the Yankees in his last start, and coughed up seven runs (five earned) against the Cubs in the start prior to that. This will be his first time back at Arlington since his disastrous outing in Game 3 of last year’s ALDS.
Heaney struck out 10 Orioles in his June 30 start against them. The lefty has been the victim of some interesting splits this season. At home he has a .667 OPS against but a 4.31 ERA, while on the road he has been hit around a hit to the tune of a .747 OPS, and yet his ERA is lower at 3.42. Baseball is weird sometimes.