Lopez’s Strong Outing Leads Orioles Past Rangers

The Baltimore Orioles won Game 1 of its three-game set against the Texas Rangers by a score of 5-2.

Home runs from DJ Stewart and Rio Ruiz, a solid five innings from Jorge Lopez and a strong bullpen outing all combined to give the Orioles their sixth win on the young season.

Cedric Mullins put two hits on the board to bring his total to 21 through 14 games, good for a .396 average. His RBI double in the top of the third gave Baltimore the first run of the game. Freddy Galvis also contributed with two hits and scored two runs.

One player that is looking for a rebound from yesterday is Trey Mancini, who struck out four times in four at-bats.

Lopez pitched a strong five innings for Baltimore, allowing back-to-back home runs in the fifth to David Dahl and Nick Solak. It was his best start and the only start that he was able to finish the fifth inning. Paul Fry, Dillon Tate, Adam Plutko and Cesar Valdez combined for four shutout innings of work, including Valdez picking up his second save of the season.

Dean Kremer is expected to start for Baltimore on Saturday, with a start time slated for 7:05 EST. Kremer’s last two starts against New York and Seattle only saw him go three innings in each game, allowing seven runs combined between the two starts. Like Lopez, he is looking for his first solid outing of the season.

Dane Dunning is projected to start for Texas, who has allowed only one run through nine innings of work between two starts.

Similar to yesterday’s game, if the Orioles can get some runs on the board, they will be in a good position to win the game. Pitching has been good for Baltimore over the past several games, which is something they want to continue.