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Rangers open series with Orioles

Fri 6th, July 2007

(Sports Network) - The Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles will wrap up disappointing first halves of the season with a three-game series that begins tonight at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Both teams enter tonight's play 16 games back of the leaders in their respective divisions. Texas' 36-49 overall record is tied with Kansas City for the second-worst mark in the American League, while Baltimore is currently 10 games under .500 and appears headed towards a 10th straight losing campaign. Although Texas remains well out of the playoff picture, the club has been playing pretty well over the last two-plus weeks. The Rangers have gone 10-5 since June 20 and took the first two tests of a three-game home set with the AL-West leading Angels before falling to Anaheim in Thursday's finale. Angels standout Kelvim Escobar allowed one run over seven innings to notch his 10th victory of the season and lead his club to a 5-2 decision last night. Robinson Tejeda (5-8) wasn't nearly as sharp, as the Rangers starter allowed four runs on six hits and walked three over the first 5 1/3 innings. Marlon Byrd and Michael Young knocked in the lone runs for Texas. A key contributor to the Rangers' recent strong play has been pitcher Kameron Loe, who takes the mound tonight in search of a fifth consecutive winning start. Loe has been brilliant since returning from a short stint in the minors in mid-June. The right-hander has amassed an impressive 1.95 earned run average during his current winning streak and allowed two or less runs in three of those four victories. The 25-year-old turned in another outstanding effort Sunday in Boston, where he limited the Red Sox to one run on six hits in six innings of his team's 2-1 triumph. Loe has never started against the Orioles but has faced them four times previously in relief. He is 1-0 with one save in those games and surrendered only one run in six innings of work over that span. Baltimore counters with Jeremy Guthrie, who has been one of the bright spots in the Orioles' otherwise dim first half. The rookie right-hander enters tonight's game ranked second in the AL with a 2.63 ERA to go along with a 4-2 record in 18 appearances, including 12 starts. Guthrie has also excelled on the road this season, bringing a 3-0 record with a 2.56 ERA in 10 away outings (five starts) into tonight's tilt. The former first-round draft choice did suffer his first defeat since April 24 in Sunday's 4-3 setback against the Angels. Guthrie held Anaheim to just four hits and struck out seven without a walk over eight innings, but gave up a pair of homers that proved to be his undoing. Guthrie allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings in a pair of relief appearances against Texas while with the Cleveland Indians last season. Tonight's game marks the first meeting between these teams in 2007. Texas won six of nine matchups with Baltimore last season and is 12-7 in this series since the start of the 2005 campaign.