Texas @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Jul 11, 2010 ) Baltimore 4, Texas 1
After a scorching start, victories have suddenly become scarce for new Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter.
The Orioles hope to get back to their winning ways under Showalter on Thursday night when they kick off a four-game home series against the reeling Texas Rangers.
After going 7-1 in its first eight games with Showalter at the helm, Baltimore has lost four of five, including a 6-5 decision to Seattle on Wednesday. Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer and Luke Scott also drove in two runs for the Orioles, who fell to 10-6 since Showalter became manager on August 3.
Showalter will be facing one of his former teams in Texas, which suffered a four-game home sweep in the teams' last meeting July 8-11. The Rangers visit Camden Yards having lost five in a row and nine of 13 on the road.
Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of Texas on Wednesday, handing the Rangers their seventh loss in their last 10 games overall. Mitch Moreland and Taylor Teagarden homered for Texas in the defeat.
Colby Lewis (9-9) starts for the Rangers, who are 11-21 against American League East opponents. Lewis has lost four straight decisions but has allowed just one earned run in three of his last four starts. He was the hard-luck loser in two of those three contests, including Saturday's 3-1 setback against Boston in which he yielded one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
The 31-year old will be making his first appearance against the Orioles this season. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in three career games against Baltimore, including one start.
Getting the call for the Orioles is Brian Matusz (4-12), who has dropped three of his last four decisions. The left-hander lasted just four innings against Tampa Bay on Saturday, surrendering five runs and nine hits in a 7-3 loss.
Matusz has not had much success against the Rangers during his brief career, going 1-1 with a 10.95 ERA in three outings. He has failed to pitch more than three innings versus Texas in two starts in 2010, posting an 0-1 record with an 18.57 ERA.
Daniel Murphy is 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs against Matusz, while Vladimir Guerrero is batting .500 with two homers and six RBIs in six at-bats.
Matusz has struggled at home this year. The 23-year old is 1-7 with a 4.86 ERA in 12 starts at Camden Yards.
The injury-riddled Rangers hope to regain the services of third baseman Michael Young, who has missed the past two games with a stiff neck. Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler and Cristian Guzman are all on the disabled list.