The Baltimore Orioles will make their first trip to Dallas to take on the Texas Rangers in an abbreviated two game series before getting a taste of interleague play this weekend.
Texas is in first place in the American League West although the have somewhat underachieved so far this season. They have had trouble finding a catcher and, recently, their pitching hasn’t been very good.
The Orioles are coming off of a series split with Kansas City, but still reside in last place in the AL East.
Wednesday night, Jeremy Guthrie (2-4) will face Rich Harden (2-1). Guthrie is coming off one of his best outings of his career when he beat Cleveland on Friday night. His last two starts have been very good and he has earned a win. The offense hasn’t been supporting Guthrie much, but he hasn’t needed it in his last two starts. If the bats get going, the O’s are very capable of winning this game.
Thursday, Brian Matusz (2-3) will oppose Scott Feldman (1-4). Much like Guthrie, Matusz was solid in his last start. He should have gotten a win, but the bullpen gave up eight runs in the ninth inning to Cleveland. Matusz has had a very good rookie campaign so far and the Birds’ offense has rarely disappointed when he’s on the mound.
Baltimore has a chance to win both of these games, but look more for a series split. Texas’ bats can get hot at any moment and lately they’ve been scoring tons of runs for their pitching staff. A split with a contender isn’t the worst thing for the Orioles at this point in the season.
