Texas @ Baltimore preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 13, 2018 ) Texas 5, Baltimore 4

After getting beat up by the best team in baseball, the Texas Rangers managed to get back on track against the worst team in the majors. The Rangers rebounded from a three-game sweep in Boston by holding on for a 5-4 victory in Friday's series opener in Baltimore and have a chance to hand the Orioles their 70th loss of the season on Saturday night.

Ryan Rua had been 0-for-18 as a pinch hitter in his career but he broke the drought in memorable fashion with a three-run homer as Texas won for only the third time in 11 games this month. Shin-Soo Choo celebrated his 36th birthday by reach base for the 49th consecutive game, the second-longest streak in baseball since 2007. The beating goes on for Baltimore, which wasted Caleb Joseph's three-run double in losing for the 17th time in 20 games. Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop went 2-for-5 in the loss, the seventh time he has collected multiple hits in the past 11 games.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Martin Perez (2-3, 9.67 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Yefry Ramirez (0-3, 3.93)

Perez has been sidelined since the end of April, when he was placed on the disabled list due to discomfort in the surgically repaired elbow on his non-pitching arm. He failed to pitch beyond four innings in three of his five starts this season and has surrendered seven home runs in only 22 1/3 innings. Perez was battered for 13 runs and 16 hits over 10 1/3 innings in a pair of losses to Baltimore last July.

Ramirez remains in search of his first major-league win entering his fifth career appearance and fourth start, as the Orioles have scored only six runs in his four appearances this season. The 24-year-old Dominican was tagged for four runs and nine hits in a season-low four innings versus the New York Yankees on Monday. Ramirez is limiting right-handed batters to a collective .205 average.

WALK-OFFS

1. Rangers RH Keone Kela has converted all 23 save opportunities.

2. Baltimore is 1-16 against AL West opponents.

3. Rangers CF Delino DeShields cleared his concussion protocol and entered as a defensive replacement Friday.

PREDICTION: Orioles 6, Rangers 5