Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Orioles are about to play a hugely important series.
At this point, they’re all hugely important. With 47 games left and six teams within a game and a half of the third wild card spot, the O’s are going to need to start stacking wins if they have any hope of remaining in playoff competition. But more than that, they need to beat up on the teams they’re directly competing against.
Enter the Texas Rangers, who currently hold the coveted final wild card spot
despite a sub-.500 record. They’re one game ahead of the Orioles, who could have tied Texas in the standings yesterday if they hadn’t botched their series finale against the Angels. So the Orioles have a golden opportunity to draw even with the Rangers with a series win or pull ahead with a sweep. But if the O’s get swept, well…let’s not think about that.
The Orioles haven’t faced the Rangers since March 30-April 1, the Birds’ first homestand of the year, before it was apparent how much of a slog this season would become for both teams. Texas took two out of three in that series, improving to 4-1 at the time, and it’s the last time they were three games over .500. Since then they’ve hovered around the .500 mark all year. For a while that was good enough to stay in first place in a lousy AL West, but they’re now 1.5 games behind the Astros. The Rangers are mediocrity personified — so, they’re a typical 2026 American League team.
The Rangers couldn’t decide whether to buy or sell at the trade deadline and ended up standing pat, other than acquiring ex-Angels reliever Chase Silseth. They could have used some more help if they plan on making a postseason push. Texas is basically a middle-of-the-pack team both in hitting and pitching.
Offensively, the Rangers are getting contributions from several guys, including Wyatt Langford and longtime Met Brandon Nimmo. Veteran Joc Pederson, who had an atrocious debut season with the Rangers a year ago (.181 AVG, .614 OPS), has rebounded in a big way with a team-leading 20 homers and .840 OPS. But a few hitters who were expected to play key roles have disappointed, including Corey Seager and Evan Carter, both of whom were prominent stars for the Rangers’ championship team in 2023.
The Rangers’ rotation, too, has underwhelmed. All of their primary starting pitchers have an ERA+ below 100, indicating they’ve been a tick below average but not disastrous. They’ll use their three best starters in this series. The O’s will not be doing the same. The Rangers’ bullpen, with a 4.31 ERA, is hittable, but it would behoove the Orioles to do their damage before the ninth inning. All-Star lefty Jacob Latz has emerged as a quality closer, posting a 1.94 ERA with 21 saves in 24 chances. He had saved 16 in a row before blowing a lead three days ago.
The Orioles and Rangers are evenly matched opponents, but if the O’s hope to win the series, they’ll need to put up a better offensive performance than the one they just showed against the Angels, MLB’s worst team. They’ve got a chance to make some real noise in the playoff race if they can take care of business in Arlington this weekend.
Game 1: Friday, 8:15 PM, Apple TV+
RHP Shane Baz (4-10, 3.86) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (10-9, 4.31)
If ever there were a perfect example of how misleading win-loss records can be, Eovaldi has six more victories than Baz despite giving up more runs. The 36-year-old Eovaldi, now in his 15th major league season, is showing signs of age, with his hit rate, HR rate, and WHIP all at their highest levels in four years. His 90 ERA+ is his worst since an injury-plagued 2019 season with Boston. He’s coming off a particularly rough July in which he posted a 5.67 ERA in five starts. Eovaldi faced the Orioles on April 1 and they tagged him for six runs in four innings.
As for Baz, he hasn’t won a game since June 12, but that’s hardly his fault. Baz has held up his end of the bargain, throwing five quality starts since then, but he’s suffered from a criminal lack of run support. In Baz’s last eight starts, the O’s have scored two or fewer runs in six of them. At this point Shane might as well just pick up a bat himself and try to provide his own run support.
This game will air exclusively on Apple TV+, so if you don’t subscribe, enjoy your day off from watching the Orioles.
Game 2: Saturday, 7:15 PM, Fox
RHP Kyle Bradish (7-10, 3.79) vs. RHP Jacob deGrom (7-7, 3.96)
In another nationally televised game, this is one dynamite pitching matchup. The Orioles’ newly extended ace goes up against the two-time Cy Young winner in a game where runs might be at a premium.
While deGrom’s ERA+ is just 98, far lower than his career mark of 146, he’s still capable of dominance. There’s a whole lot of red (red is good!) on his Baseball Savant page, and his underlying numbers aren’t much worse than his previous seasons. He’s been fully healthy for two straight years now, a welcome change from his first two seasons in Texas — when he made only nine starts combined — and his injury-riddled Mets career. There was some buzz that the Rangers might field offers for deGrom at the deadline, but the veteran put the kibosh on that by invoking his no-trade clause to stay in Texas.
The Orioles’ Bradish got jobbed by the weather in his last start. He went only three innings against the Phillies on Sunday before an extended rain delay forced him out of the game. He didn’t get a chance to fully redeem himself from his 10-hit, five-run slog in Detroit in his previous outing. This will be Bradish’s first time facing the Rangers since Game 1 of the 2023 Division Series, when they tagged him for two runs in 4.2 innings. Only two hitters from that day’s lineup, Seager and Carter, are currently on the Rangers’ active roster.
Game 3: Sunday, 2:35 PM, MASN
LHP Cade Povich (2-1, 3.91) vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (4-8, 4.08)
I thought the O’s might activate Chris Bassitt from the IL to make this start, but Povich’s solid showing against the Angels on Monday has earned him another chance. Povich, in his first major league outing in almost three months, blanked the Angels over six innings despite giving up seven hits. A better offensive team might have made him pay for all that traffic on the basepaths, but Cade deserves credit anyway. Povich’s first major league win came against the Rangers on June 29, 2024, and he hasn’t faced them since.
A fellow 26-year-old, Rocker, will take on Povich. The former Vanderbilt standout was famously a top-10 draft pick in two consecutive years, failing to reach an agreement with the Mets when they selected him 10th overall in 2021, then getting picked third by the Rangers the following season. After a brutal introduction to the majors last season, Rocker is starting to live up to his potential this year, serving as a capable back-end starter. The big right-hander’s best pitch is his slider, which has held hitters to a .171 AVG and a .268 SLG. The only current Oriole who has ever faced him is Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who is 0-for-2.
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What do you expect from the Orioles in this series, Camden Chatters? Let us know in the comments.
