Will Chen pitch well again as the O's face Texas?

The Orioles are certainly delighted that Wei-Yin Chen returned to their rotation before the All-Star break. He pitched the Orioles to a 6-1 win over Texas in his first start off the disabled list and faces the same team tonight. Chen is 4-3 with a 2.82 ERA in nine starts during a season where he missed two months with a strained oblique. Chen has produced six quality starts in his nine outings and the Orioles are 5-4 in those nine games. In two career starts against Texas, Chen is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA, allowing just two earned runs over 14 2/3 innings. Chen has pitched to an ERA of just 1.75 this year in the first four innings of his starts and has given up just three homers over 54 1/3 innings. With runners on base, Chen has held opponents to a .176 average (15-85), the second-lowest average among AL starters (Clay Buchholz, first at .139). Lefty Derek Holland starts for Texas. He is 8-4 with a 3.08 ERA over 19 starts. He faced the O's two starts ago and went 6 2/3 frames, allowing 10 hits and five runs (three earned). The 10 hits allowed match Holland's season high and the five runs he gave up that night are the second most he has allowed in a game this year. Over his last four starts though, Holland is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA and he is 2-3 with a 3.35 ERA over eight home starts in 2013. The Orioles played .500 ball or better in their first six road trips this year, but they have gone 2-4 in the last two trips. They are just 2-7 in their last nine road games and are 24-23 on the road on the year. The Orioles are 2-2 this year against Texas but have won just four of the last 16 regular season meetings between these clubs.