ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers will need to be rested and ready from the All-Star break as they open the second half of their championship defense season with a long stretch of games.
Texas will play 13 games in 13 days with some country criss-crossing travel that could very well be a season-defining stretch as they try to claw their way back to contention. To start, they’ll face a first place team with the Baltimore Orioles arriving to the scene of where their storybook 2023 season ended in the ALDS last October.
However, the last time Texas faced these Orioles, the Rangers were suffering through one of the lowest points of this 2024 campaign. In a four-game series in Baltimore at the end of June, Texas lost the first three and then exploded for an offensive outburst in the finale.
Where we sit in July, the Rangers gained a bit of momentum going into the All-Star break, while the Orioles lost five of their last six before the pause in action. Will the momentum keep going for Texas past the break, or is this a fresh start for both clubs?
Baltimore Orioles (58-38, 1st Place AL East, +1.0 G) @ Texas Rangers (46-50, 3rd Place AL West, 5.0 GB)
Baltimore at the break
The Orioles were able to fly past the Yankees by the end of June and have held on to first place in the hyper-competitive American League East. With 17-9 records in both April and May, the Orioles have rode the top-slugging offense in all of baseball to a successful first half. Baltimore also has a winning record within the division, dominating Boston, New York, Tampa Bay, and Toronto going 20-9 against their division mates.
Baltimore not only has the top slugging offense in baseball and leads baseball in home runs, but they also have a top five pitching staff in the American League. Sporting a team 3.71 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP,and a .230 batting average against, the Orioles have come on as a very strong and formidable team and have set themselves up as one of the top contenders this season. The race in the AL East is tight though, and Baltimore has been trading the AL East lead with the Yankees since the start of the year.
The Orioles sent five players to the All-Star Game – starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, catcher Adley Rutschman, outfielder Anthony Santander, and infielders Jordan Westburg, and Gunnar Henderson.
Burnes was acquired in the off-season and started the Midsummer Classic for the American League, throwing a scoreless first inning. He pitched to a 9-4 record with a 2.43 ERA across 19 first-half starts, en route to his fourth All-Star nomination in a row.
Rutschman, the No. 1 overall pick from 2019, earned his 2nd All-Star entry, slashing .275/.339/.441 with 16 homers and 59 RBI behind the plate. Santander’s All-Star selection came from his slugging – with 24 homers and 58 RBI, the 29-year old entered the break with a .503 slugging percentage.
Westburg is in his first full season after an impressive rookie year in 2023. He’s another slugger, finishing the half with a .496 slugging percentage and 15 homers. Henderson, one of the game’s rising shortstops was the 2023 Rookie of the Year and earned his first trip to the All-Star Game with a .286/.373/.584 slash line, crushing 28 homers (already tying last year’s total) and driving in 63.
The Orioles, despite finishing out the week on a down note, are going to be aggressive buyers at the trade deadline. Nothing the Rangers do this weekend is going to change that mindset.
The matchups
- Game 97, 7:05 PM CT - Corbin Burnes (9-4, 2.43 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 2.97 ERA)
- Game 98, 6:05 PM CT - Grayson Rodriguez (11-4, 3.88 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (1-2, 2.96 ERA)
- Game 99, 1:35 PM CT - Dean Kremer (4-5, 4.38 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney (3-10, 3.79 ERA)
The Rangers set a rotation coming out of the break to include their top two veterans and lefty Andrew Heaney. They finished the first half with a series against Houston with Max Scherzer on and mound and he’ll get the nod on Saturday.
Nathan Eovaldi starts out the second half after not being selected for the All-Star roster but being Texas’ most consistent starter. Heaney, meanwhile, will be hoping the second half is kinder in terms of run support.
The Orioles are leading off with the starter for the American League at the All-Star Game, Corbin Burnes. His final start of the half was a losing effort in which he gave up three runs on nine hits in six innings to the Cubs. Against the Rangers last month he was outstanding, allowing just one run, even though he gave up nine hits in seven innings.
Saturday night will feature Grayson Rodriguez, who gave up six runs on eight hits in just five innings to New York in his last outing before the break. He did not face the Rangers a couple weeks ago, but did make his MLB debut in Arlington last season.
Dean Kremer will close out the series for the Birds, having not made it past the fifth inning in his last four starts. Kremer last went 4 ⅔ innings against the Yankees, giving up just two runs on four hits. The last time that Kremer faced Texas, he was the losing pitcher of Game 3 of the 2023 ALDS as the Rangers advanced to the ALCS.
Both teams still have a lot to prove and are hoping to come out of the second half gate strong. Baltimore’s slugging is going to give the Rangers problems, especially if the staff can’t throw quality strikes and miss over the heart of the plate, as they have been prone to do. There might be a lot of free passes issued to the Orioles, as Texas pitching tries to find a way to traipse through their powerful bats.
Do you think the Rangers will open the second half with a series win against Baltimore? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
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