Texas Rangers Series Preview vs Baltimore Orioles

The Rangers are home for a quick weekend homestand against the Orioles.

In tonight’s game Texas will face RHP Jorge López. This will be his third start of the 2021 season and he hasn’t faired so well. He hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning in either of his outtings, facing the Yankees and the Red Sox. In 8.2 innings, he’s given up 11 runs and has an 11.42 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. After his terrific outing against the Padres last week, Mike Foltynewicz will face Baltimore for just the second time in his career. His one and only other start against them came in 2015, he gave up two runs on six innings and struck out eight.

Baltimore doesn’t currently have a started listed for Saturday evening’s game. The Rangers will have Dane Dunning on the mound, currently sporting a 1.00 ERA. This will be his first start against Baltimore in his career, much like most teams this year considering he only played Central division teams in the shortened season last year, his debut season.

Sunday’s series finale could be the Rangers biggest challenge against the Orioles. They’ll face lefty John Means. Means pitched twice against Texas in 2019, in those two outings he went 12.2 innings and gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk, striking out nine. This will be his fourth start this year, he has a 2.16 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 16.2 innings.

Gibson will take the mound for the Rangers to make his 12th start against Baltimore. He has a career 4.31 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 62.6 innings against the Orioles. He’s faced the Orioles twice in every season from 2015 through 2019.