O's game blog: Chris Tillman starts Texas series opener

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles begin the second leg of their two-city, six-game road trip with the opener of a three-game series against Texas at Globe Life Park.

The Orioles (48-53) won the opener of their series at Tropicana Field and then lost the next two games to Tampa Bay. Texas (49-52) got hammered 22-10 by Miami on Wednesday night but is 4-2 since getting swept four straight in Baltimore last week.

The Orioles swept that series by a 34-11 score. The Orioles won the opening game 3-1 and then scored 31 runs on 41 hits in the last three games of the series, hitting nine home runs.

Former Ranger Chris Davis had three hits in the four-game series, but all three were home runs. In the last three games of that series when the Orioles offense broke out, second baseman Jonathan Schoop went 7-for-13 with two doubles, a homer and eight RBIs. In those same three games, Adam Jones went 7-for-14 with two homers and five RBIs.

The Orioles have won six of their last seven games versus the Rangers. But they went 1-6 the past two seasons in Texas.

Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre begins this series with 2,996 hits and needs four to become the 31st player in major league history with 3,000 hits. Former Oriole Eddie Murray ranks 13th all-time with 3,255 hits, Cal Ripken Jr. is 15th at 3,184 and Rafael Palmeiro is 27th with 3,020.

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman (1-5, 7.01 ERA) will make his 14th start of the year tonight. Tillman has allowed three or fewer runs in three straight starts, pitching to an ERA of 3.31. But he has just three quality starts for the season and the Orioles are 5-8 in his outings.

It was during those past three starts when Tillman pitched well against Texas. In Baltimore on July 17, he went six innings and permitted just two hits and one run. In eight career starts versus the Rangers he is 3-2 with a 4.89 ERA and in five career starts at Texas, Tillman is 3-1 with a 5.08 ERA.

Texas is 26-22 at home but only 9-13 over the last 22 games. The Rangers are 17-24 in games decided by one and two runs and 6-7 in the second half.

On the mound for Texas is right-hander Andrew Cashner (5-8, 3.64 ERA), who will be making his 17th start. He has recorded three straight quality starts, going 2-1 with an ERA of 2.75. In six home starts, he is 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA, allowing two runs or less five times.

Cashner has 10 quality starts to rank second on the team behind Yu Darvish, who has 15. The team is 7-9 in Cashner's outings. One of those losses came July 17 at Oriole Park. He allowed six hits and three runs over 6 2/3 innings, throwing 95 pitches.

Schoop ranks third in the American League and is tied for 10th in the majors with 72 RBIs. He trails only Nelson Cruz (75) and Aaron Judge (73) for the AL lead. His 18 RBIs since the All-Star break lead the AL and are tied for second in the majors. Schoop also ranks second in the majors among second basemen in RBIs, trailing only Daniel Murphy (73).