Baltimore Orioles vs Texas Rangers Picks and Predictions June 29th 2024

Orioles aim to maintain momentum against struggling Rangers

It has always been believed that strong pitching is more effective than strong hitting. But what occurs when a team possesses both qualities? Joining the Baltimore Orioles next will be the Texas Rangers on Saturday night, following the Orioles’ victories of 11-2 and 2-1 in the initial two games of their four-game series.

Recent Performance

Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles have been demonstrating solid baseball skills by pairing great pitching with well-timed hitting. In June, they hit 58 home runs, equaling the team’s record for the most long balls in a single month, with two games remaining to surpass that milestone. Baltimore, who is currently in a tie with the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East, has won three consecutive games following a five-game losing skid.

In the Orioles’ 2-1 win on Friday night, they only recorded five hits while limiting the Rangers to four.

Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel mentioned that they have been able to play good baseball and achieve several team victories. “It’s always a great feeling to go out and score a lot of runs as well.”

Key Players

• Craig Kimbrel: Kimbrel has been dominant in June, posting a 1.03 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings and converting five of six save opportunities.
• Colton Cowser: Cowser has homered in his past three games, bringing his season total to 12 home runs. “It just says a whole lot about this team,” Cowser said. “We don’t like to get too down on our lows and too high on our highs. Just staying kind of in the middle all season long is something that it takes. So it doesn’t really surprise me the way we responded.”

Pitching Matchup

• Cade Povich (0-2, 4.15 ERA): The rookie left-hander will make his fifth start for Baltimore, still looking for his first big-league victory. In his last outing, he allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Cleveland Guardians. Povich has been solid at home, issuing only one walk with 11 strikeouts across 11 2/3 innings.

Texas Rangers’ Struggles

The defending World Series champion Rangers are currently in a slump, having lost five consecutive games and winning only four of their past 14 games. Manager Bruce Bochy expressed frustration with the team’s inability to get timely hits.

“You get in these things, you’re just looking for one big hit, one key hit, anything,” Bochy said. “We did hit some balls hard, some lineouts. It’s tough going through something like this. We’re seeing good pitching.”

On Friday, Texas left eight runners on base, including loading the bases in the seventh inning but only managing to score one run on a bases-loaded walk to Leody Taveras.

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Key Players

Michael Lorenzen (4-3, 3.04 ERA): The Rangers’ starting pitcher, Lorenzen, seeks to achieve a 3-0 record this month following two no-decisions in his recent games. He has pitched against the Orioles on two occasions (starting once), with no wins or losses, and has maintained a perfect 0.00 ERA over six innings. Out of the 10 home runs hit against him so far this year, five have been hit in the current month.

Obstacles

The Rangers have been having difficulty with their offensive timing. Even with strong pitching, they have been lacking the crucial big hits to score runs.

“Bochy mentioned that they were only narrowly missing the major success.” At certain points, we had the correct individuals present on the premises. We simply couldn’t make the hit.

Conclusion

The Orioles will depend on Cade Povich to pitch well as they aim to extend their winning streak and set a new home run record for June. On the flip side, the Rangers will try to end their losing streak with Michael Lorenzen pitching. Both teams have something at stake, creating an interesting game between the improving Orioles and the faltering Rangers.