Early offense leads the way to victory
Ruiz, Stewart homer to back López’s sharp start
Even as they have struggled through the first two weeks of the season, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has repeatedly expressed confidence in his hitters.
“You look at our numbers, and six months from now, they’re not going to look like that,” Hyde said before Friday’s game. “I really think that we have some good hitters on this team.”
They backed him up on that belief in a 5-2 victory against the Texas Rangers, a strong performance after they entered batting .218
ORIOLES@RANGERS Saturday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN Radio: 105.7 FM
and losers of eight of the previous 10 games. The moderate outburst provided some run support for right-hander Jorge López in his first strong outing of the young season as the Orioles (6-8) improved to 5-2 away from Camden Yards.
Having struggled for most of his first two weeks as an Oriole, shortstop Freddy Galvis carried over the momentum from his home run in Thursday’s doubleheader by starting the third inning with a triple off Mike Foltynewicz. Cedric Mullins, restarting his hot streak after an 0-for-6 doubleheader,
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jorge Lopez throws during the first inning of the team’s game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night. doubled him home.
After Rio Ruiz showed he might be starting an offensive turnaround by homering the other way in the fourth inning, the Orioles added three more runs in the fifth. Galvis led off with a double, moved to third on a Mullins single, andscoredonAnthonySantander’ssacrificefly.
DJ Stewart then brought in Mullins with a two-run home run, his first since coming off the injured list for a hamstring strain suffered in spring training.
The shot raised his OPS to .935.
The Orioles went quiet from there, but Paul Fry,DillonTate,AdamPlutkoandCésarValdez combined for four scoreless innings behind López as the Orioles struck out 15 as a staff.
Third time’s the charm
After struggling mightily in his first two outings of 2021, López retired the first 11 Rangers, striking out seven before walking Joey Gallo, then ended the fourth inning with his eighth punchout.
His 97.2 mph sinker to strikeout Nick Solak and end the second was the hardest-thrown pitch of his career, per Statcast.
López’s bid to join San Diego’s Joe Musgrove in no-hitting the Rangers at their new ballpark ended when David Dahl homered to open the fifth. Solak then did the same just beyond the reach of Santander in right to cut Baltimore’s advantage to 5-2, but López recovered to retire the next three batters.
Hyde ended his outing at 75 pitches, leaving
López with a positive ending to a start for the first time this season.
Around the horn
Right-hander Dean Kremer will start Saturday’s game on three day’s rest after he threw 54 pitches. “He’s plenty rested and ready to go,” Hyde said.
Hyde said the hope is that outfielder Austin Hays (right hamstring strain) is activated off the injured list by either Sunday’s series finale or Tuesday’s opener against the Miami Marlins.
Outfielder Yusniel Diaz, the centerpiece of the Manny Machado trade, is on the Orioles’ five-man taxi squad for this road trip, joining catcher Austin Wynns, infielder Richie Martin, and right-handers Isaac Mattson and Cole Sulser.