O’s Game Blog: Looking for another win in the series against Texas

In their first meeting with Texas since Texas swept the Orioles in the American League Division Series last October, the Orioles have beaten Texas 11-2 and 2-1 over the last two nights to begin this four-game series.

After five consecutive losses to Houston and Cleveland, the Orioles (52-30) have won their last three games.

During the five losses, Baltimore’s pitchers allowed 40 runs, with a team ERA of 7.71 and an OPS against them of .936 in those games. The team ERA increased from 3.13 to 3.40 on the year.

In their last three wins, Baltimore pitchers have allowed a total of five runs, with a team ERA of 1.67 and an OPS of .582. The team ERA has dropped to 3.34, the best in the American League and the third-best in the Major League behind Philadelphia (3.04) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (3.27).

The O’s three-game winning streak ended with a 17-5 overall record. The Orioles are now 8-11 in one-point games and, after last night, 3-15 when they score two points or fewer. They are 28-16 at home and 16-11 in June.

Texas (37-45), the defending World Series champion, is in third place in the AL West, nine games behind division leader Seattle. The Rangers are also currently eight games out of the final AL wild-card spot.

Texas has lost five or more games in a row for the fourth time in 2024. The Rangers have been outscored 28-12 in the current losing streak. Their season high is six straight losses from May 19-25.

The Rangers have lost eight straight road games and 18 of their last 23 road games. They are 17-26 this year, the third-worst road record in the AL.

Starting tonight is rookie left-hander Cade Povich (0-2, 4.15 ERA). In 21 2/3 innings in his four major league games for the Orioles, he has allowed 18 hits and 10 runs and two home runs. He has allowed 10 walks and 14 fanned hits while allowing a WHIP of 1.292.

He allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings against Cleveland on Monday. And since allowing six runs in his major league debut, he has a 2.20 ERA over the last three games, holding opponents to a .217 batting average and .627 OPS during that span. In two home games, he is 0-1 with a 2.31 ERA.

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen (4-3, 3.04 ERA), an eight-start pitcher, will be on the mound for Texas. In 77 innings on the year, he has allowed 58 hits and has a WHIP of 1.156. He has a walk rate of 3.6 and a strikeout rate of 6.4.

Lorenzen had a 4.66 ERA after his fifth start in 2024. In the eight games since then, he is 2-1 with a 2.06 ERA and has allowed two or fewer earned runs seven times. In that span, opposing batters hit .195 with a .577 OPS against him.

Lorensen has crazy reverse splits. While right-handed batters hit .295 with an OPS of .898 against him, left-handed batters hit just .119/.389. Of his 10 home runs allowed, nine came against right-handed batters. The Rangers are 4-9 in his 13 starts.

O’s outfielder Colton Cowser hit a 408-foot home run in the fourth inning on Friday to open the scoring. It was his 12th of the year. Cowser has hit a home run in back-to-back games for the third time this season and has also hit a home run in each of his last three games. In 18 games since June 9, he has a .240 batting average with a .600 slugging percentage and an .896 OPS, hitting five home runs and eight RBIs.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson went 1-for-3 on the night with a fifth-inning RBI single and a walk, extending his career on-base streak to 35 consecutive games dating back to May 22, the longest active streak in the major leagues. It’s also the longest by an Oriole since 2009, when Nick Markakis hit 38 in a row from July 5 to August 18.