Orioles Take it to the Rangers in the Middle Game of the Series

The Orioles blew out the Rangers Tuesday.

The Orioles came into Texas to make a statement.  After a 7-2 win to start the series against the Texas Rangers, the O’s came into game 2 with the same attitude.

The Orioles lineup:

C. Mullins CF, 2. A. Rutschman C, 3. A. Santander LF, 4. R. Mountcastle 1B, 5. A. Hays RF, 6. R. Odor 2B, 7. R. Urias 3B, 8. T. Vavra DH, 9. J. Mateo SS

The starting pitcher for the O’s was Jordan Lyles (7-8, 4.54 ERA).

The Rangers lineup:

M. Semien SS, 2. C. Seager DH, 3. L. Taveras CF, 4. N. Lowe 1B, 5. E. Duran 2B, 6. K. Calhoun RF, 7. M. Viloria C, 8. N. Solak LF, 9. J. Smith

The starting pitcher for the Rangers was Spencer Howard (2-2, 5.74 ERA).

Howard was pitching a good 3 innings until Jorge Mateo came up to the plate and blasted a three-run 408-foot home run (9) to give the O’s a 3-0 lead. Adley Rustchman hit a ground-rule double to score Cedric Mullins. Rutschman was then hit in on a Ryan Mountcastle sac fly. The O’s were then up 5-0.  All five runs came in the same inning.

Anthony Santander hit a double in the 5th inning and Rutschman scored. 6-0 O’s.

Josh Sborz (7.30 ERA) came in for the Rangers.

Marcus Semien hit an RBI single to score Meibrys Viloria and cut the Orioles’ lead down to 6-1.

Taylor Hearn (5.50 ERA) relieved Sborz in the 7th inning.

Dillon Tate (2.20 ERA) came in for Jordan Lyles who had pitched for 6.1 innings and struck out 7 batters.

Nick Vespi (4.24 ERA) relieved Dillon Tate in the 8th.

Dennis Santana came in in the 9th for the Rangers. (5.09 ERA)

Jorge Mateo went yard again in the 9th with a two-run 382-foot home run (10) to extend the O’s lead to 8-1.

Yusniel Diaz came in to pinch hit for Anthony Santander to make his MLB debut.

Meibrys Viloria hit a 376-foot home run (2) to bring down the O’s lead. 8-2.

Felix Bautista (1.66 ERA) came in for Vespi in the 9th to finish out the inning and the game.  He only needed three pitches to get a strikeout.

The Orioles stay in Texas for the 3rd and final game of the series tomorrow, Wednesday, August 3 at 2:05 PM EST.