O's game blog: Texas going for a four-game sweep today

ARLINGTON, Texas - During the first three games of a four-game series here at Globe Life Park, the Orioles have lost to the Texas Rangers when they gave up a lot of runs, and also last night, when they gave up just three.

They are 0-3 in this series, and a loss today would give Texas its first four-game home sweep of the Orioles since July 24-26, 2001. The Orioles went 6-1 against the Rangers last year but are 2-4 this season.

Texas beat the Orioles 17-8 Thursday, 11-3 Friday and 3-1 last night. Dylan Bundy gave up just two runs (one earned) over six innings last night, but O's pitchers have allowed 31 runs on 36 hits in the series, including eight home runs.

Texas (49-63) had gone 0-5-5 in its previous 10 series of four games, but the Rangers will win this one and might sweep it. Texas has won seven of its last eight games. The Rangers are 3-0 in this series after going 1-9 at home in July, and they were 19-34 at home before the Orioles arrived in town.

On the mound for Baltimore this afternoon is right-hander Yefry Ramírez (1-4, 4.59 ERA). Ramírez gave up six hits and six runs in five innings on Tuesday at New York against the Yankees. He posted an ERA of 3.09 in his first five big league games. But he's allowed nine runs in 10 innings over his past two games.

Lefty batters hit .254 against Ramírez while right-handers bat .212. He has given up an average of just .161 when pitching with runners in scoring position. In two road starts - at Philadelphia and New York - he is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA .

Right-hander Drew Hutchison will pitch today for Texas. He agreed to terms with the Rangers on a major league contract last night and will sign today and be activated to make this start. Hutchison signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in February and was designated for assignment on May 31. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers June 16 but requested and was granted his release on July 31.

Hutchison went 1-1 with a 4.64 ERA in 11 relief appearances for Philadelphia. Most recently he was pitching with the Dodgers' Triple-A Oklahoma City team. He went 4-1 with a 2.14 ERA in nine games. He threw 23 scoreless innings over his past four starts. He last pitched Monday, when he threw 6 1/3 scoreless on three hits against El Paso.

The Orioles (33-78) have lost four of five, 19 of 28 and 26 of their last 36 games. They are 13-43 on the road and 1-13 in their past 14 away from Oriole Park. Last night was the 28th time the Orioles have scored one run or no runs, and they are 2-26 in those games. They are 8-57 when scoring three or fewer.

Mark Trumbo picked up his 1,000th career hit last night. He has a seven-game hitting streak and is batting .321 (9-for-28) during the streak.

Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor have homered in each of the three games of this series for Texas. Gallo has eight homers his last 15 games. Odor is 6-for-12 in the series, with three homers and five RBIs.