Orioles Look To Add to Champs’ Road Woes

Texas Swept Baltimore in the Playoffs, Can They Do It Again?

Thanks to late home runs by Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn, the Baltimore Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak. Now they welcome the struggling World Series champion Texas Rangers to town. The Rangers vs Orioles prediction has Baltimore favored in Thursday’s series opener.

The last time the teams met, Texas swept Baltimore in the American League Division Series and that included a pair of road victories. The teams split six games during the regular season with the road team winning four times. Baltimore went 6-0 against Texas in 2022 with five of those games landing over the total.

• The MLB picks have Baltimore priced at -200 to win the series opener with +105 odds to cover at -1.5 on the run line. Texas is +165 to take the first contest in the four-game series.
• Both teams are 4-6 over the last 10 games. The recent slump hasn’t impacted Baltimore’s place in the MLB power rankings. Only the New York Yankees have better odds of winning the World Series than Baltimore’s +800 odds among American League teams. The championship odds for the Rangers have moved from +1200 to +4000 since the start of the season.

Rangers vs Orioles Probable Pitching Matchups

• Thursday: Jon Gray (Rangers); Corbin Burnes (Orioles)
• Friday: Max Scherzer (Rangers); Albert Suarez (Orioles)
• Saturday: Michael Lorenzen (Rangers); Cade Povich (Orioles)
• Sunday: Andrew Heaney (Rangers); Cole Irvin (Orioles)

Rangers Struggling to Get Started

Only two American League teams had a better team slugging percentage when leading off an inning a season ago than the Texas Rangers.

It has been a different story in 2024. While the Orioles lead the majors with a .524 slugging percentage from the first batter in an inning, Texas comes in 20th (10th among American League teams) in that category. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Rangers vs Orioles predictions.

• Rookie Wyatt Langford is just 7-for-43 when leading off an inning while Marcus Semien, Evan Carter, and Nathaniel Lowe are each hitting under .240 as the first batter in the inning. That has made it hard for the reigning World Series champions to rally.

Ten of the last 14 games for the Rangers against American League teams went under the total.

Orioles are Dialing Long Distance

The best strategy when facing the Baltimore lineup these days is to hope for the best after each pitch.
The Orioles have 53 home runs and 106 extra-base hits in 25 games played in June. No other team has more than 36 home runs or 90 extra-base hits during the month. That could factor into the Rangers vs Orioles predictions.

Anthony Santander leads the way with 12 home runs over the last 25 games. Gunnar Henderson is batting .351 with 28 runs, 10 doubles, eight home runs, and an on-base percentage of .447. Austin Hays, Ryan O’Hearn, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, and Ryan Mountcastle all have at least three home runs in June.

When Baltimore met Texas in the 2023 playoffs, the Orioles hit three home runs in three games.

Thanks to the home runs, five of Baltimore’s last seven games against American League West foes went over the total.

Who’s Hot

• Keegan Akin, Baltimore Orioles P: Akin has not allowed a hit over his last nine innings. He has struck out 17 of the 29 batters during that stretch.
• Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles SS: Henderson is hitting .444 with 11 runs, four home runs, and eight RBIs in his last seven games.
• David Robertson, Texas Rangers P: Robertson has struck out five of the last eight batters he has faced as he hasn’t allowed a run in three straight appearances.
• Josh Smith, Texas Rangers 3B: Smith is 8-for-27 with four runs, three home runs, and seven RBIs in his last eight games.

Who’s Not

• Cole Irvin, Baltimore Orioles P: Irvin has given up 15 hits and 13 runs in 8.2 innings over his last two starts.
• Jacob Latz, Texas Rangers P: Latz has surrendered three hits and four runs with three walks issues while retiring two of the eight batters he faced in his last two outings.
• Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers 2B: Semien is 4-for-34 with six strikeouts over his last 10 games.
• Ramon Urias, Baltimore Orioles 2B: Urias is 0-for-11 in his last four games.

Rangers vs Orioles Injury Update

The Rangers continue to be without third baseman Josh Jung but he is expected to start swinging a bat in the next few days. Pitcher Josh Sborz is also on the injured list.

Danny Coulombe, Felix Bautista, Tyler Wells, and Dean Kremer are among the pitchers on the injured list for the Orioles.

Rangers vs Orioles Betting Preview

Both the Rangers and Orioles have been active in adding proven starting pitchers. Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes and Max Scherzer of the Texas Rangers are among the hurlers acquired in either 2023 or 2024 set to start in this series. When looking at the MLB ERA leaders, Burnes is seventh among qualified pitchers with a 2.35 ERA.

Baltimore is just 20-18 against the run line as a home favorite this season while Texas has covered in just 12 of 27 games as a road underdog. Baltimore is 23-15 outright when favored at home and 40-23 as a favorite. Texas is 12-20 when listed as the underdog. The Rangers are 17-24 against the run line on the road.

There is no chance of rain in the forecast for the series opener.

Texas has lost its last six road games but has won four of the last meetings with Baltimore. The Orioles are one of four American League teams at least 10 games over .500 at home so go with the Orioles, especially with Burnes pitching in the series opener.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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