Orioles Charge Past Rangers Again

The Texas Rangers made no trades on Tuesday and the hangover from that lack of action came in the form of an 8-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

The Rangers (46-57) found themselves behind after the Orioles exploded for five runs in the top of the third inning off Rangers starter Spencer Howard (2-3). From there, the Orioles (53-51) basically cruised to the win and surpassed last season’s win total, one that allowed them to claim the No. 1 overall pick in last month’s MLB Draft.

Orioles shortstop Jorge Mateo, who hit in the No. 9 spot on Tuesday, went 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI. It was the first two-home run game of his career. He hit the second home run, a two-run shot, in the top of the ninth with the Orioles already up 6-1.

Rangers catcher Meibrys Vilora was the one bright spot for Texas, as he went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored.

But, starting pitching is now growing into a bigger problem for the Rangers. Starter Jon Gray is now on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain, but his prognosis is that it will take him 4-6 weeks to recover. While the Rangers recalled both Taylor Hearn and Josh Sborz from Triple-A Round Rock, neither will move into the rotation. Both pitched on Tuesday night and combined to throw four innings of shutout baseball. Sborz allowed a hit and Hearn allowed no hits.

That means that beyond Martín Pérez — who is the probable starter for Wednesday — the Rangers have an unsettled rotation, to the point where there were no listed probable starters for the Rangers’ four-game series with the Chicago White Sox, which starts at Globe Life Field on Thursday.

The Rangers made just one trade before Tuesday’s deadline, shipping reliever Matt Bush to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

The Rangers are now 5-8 since the All-Star Break.

Howard, who outdueled Shohei Ohtani last week in Anaheim, was hit hard by the Orioles, as Baltimore scored all five of their runs off him before Howard recorded an out. He hit Ramon Urias with a pitch, and Urias then stole second. Terrin Vavra followed with a walk and then Mateo homered to make it a 3-0 Baltimore lead.

Cedric Mullins then singled and stole second, followed by Adley Rutschman’s ground-rule double, which scored Mullins. Rutschman moved to third on Anthony Santander’s single to right field, and Ryan Mountcastle hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Rutschman.

The Orioles added a run in the fifth as Santander’s double drove in Rutschman, who also doubled. Rutschman had two doubles for the seconds straight game.

Howard pitched four-plus innings, giving up six hits, six runs and two walks while striking out three.

The Rangers’ offense came mainly in the sixth inning, as Viloria singled and later scored on Marcus Semien’s single, cutting Baltimore’s lead to 6-1. Nathaniel Lowe did extend his career-high nine-game hitting streak and ended up with two hits. So did Semien.

Baltimore starter Jordan Lyles (8-8) handled his former team with aplomb. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits, one run and one walk. He also struck out seven. He left the game in the seventh with one out and two runners on, but the Orioles’ bullpen was able to get out of the inning without allowing a run.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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