O's game blog: The second half begins at Texas

With a one-game lead atop the American League East, the Orioles have played 96 games with 66 to go. They begin play after the All-Star break tonight at Texas to start a three-game series on the same field that hosted the All-Star Game on Tuesday night.

Last season at the break, the Orioles were 54-35 (.607) and two games out of first. Now they are 58-38 (.604) and leading the division by a game.

When last seen the O’s pulled out that crazy 6-5 win in the last of the ninth Sunday versus the Yankees. Had they not won that game they would have gone 0-6 on their homestand.

So even with that victory, one that gave them sole possession of first place in the American League East, they have lost five of six, six of eight and seven of the last 10 games.

Since June 21, the Orioles are 9-13 with a minus-45 run differential. In that span they have scored 3.8 runs per game with a team ERA of 5.69.

Since Cade Povich allowed eight runs in that short start at Oakland, the O’s rotation ERA is 8.50 the last eight games. Since June 21, it is 5.52.

The Rangers (46-50), the 2023 World Series winners who swept the Orioles in the AL Division Series, are playing better than they were the last time these teams met. The Orioles took three of four June 27-30 in Baltimore.

Texas lost the first three games of that series, scoring eight runs, and then won the series finale 11-2. The Rangers are 7-2 their last nine games and 9-4 since that win in Baltimore.

Since Bruce Bochy took over as the Rangers’ manager in 2023, Texas owns a 26-16 (.619) record against the AL East. The only AL team with a better record against the division over that span is the Orioles (52-29, .642).

Two of the league’s top pitchers match up tonight when righty Corbin Burnes (9-4, 2.43 ERA) faces righty Nate Eovaldi (6-3, 2.97 ERA). Burnes is fresh off his start and scoreless inning in the All-Star Game. Eovaldi was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the ALDS, when he allowed one run over seven innings as the O’s season ended at Globe Life Field last October.

Burnes has thrown three straight quality starts and has a QS 13 times his last 14 games. In those games, he is 6-4 with a 2.32 ERA and .612 OPS against.

Burnes has good numbers versus righty batters this year, allowing a .247 average and .696 OPS. But they are spectacular against lefties at .187/.481.

Burnes ranks second in the AL in ERA to Detroit’s Tarik Skubal at 2.41. He is third in the majors in ERA. In the AL rankings he is fourth in innings and ninth in WHIP.

Eovaldi is yet another O’s opponent starter entering his outing against the team on a roll. He has thrown seven innings four straight times and his ERA is 1.29 his past three games. Over those 21 innings he has 18 strikeouts with no walks and a .176 batting average against and .403 OPS.

The team is 10-6 in his games and he has allowed two earned runs or fewer 12 times.

Orioles hitters have 50 more home runs than their opponents and their pitchers have 51 more strikeouts than their opponents so far this season. They are just the ninth team in major league history with a plus-50 home-run differential and a plus-50 pitching strikeout differential at the All-Star break.

Adley Rutschman and Anthony Santander, respectively, have 59 and 58 RBIs at the break for the Orioles. They are just the third pair of switch-hitting teammates to ever have 55 or more RBIs at the All-Star break. They joined José Ramírez and Francisco Lindor for Cleveland in 2019 and Carlos Baerga and Eddie Murray for Cleveland in 1994.

The Orioles are 7-2 all-time at Globe Life Field since it opened in 2020. That is the best opponent regular season win percentage (.778) at GLF.