Rangers vs Orioles Preview: Baltimore Favored Despite Playoff Inexperience

Questions Surround Availability of Scherzer Going Into Series

The Texas Rangers went on the road and eliminated the second-place team in the American League East Division and now comes a matchup with AL East champion Baltimore. When it comes to the Rangers vs Orioles preview, the home team is favored to advance. The teams haven’t played in the postseason since Baltimore took a winner-take-all wild-card game in 2012.

The Orioles and Rangers split the six games played during the regular season with both Baltimore and Texas going 2-1 on the road. Four of the six games between the teams finished over the total.

The Orioles priced at -130 to win the series with -325 odds for the series to need at least four games.

When it comes to the MLB score predictions, it should be noted that Baltimore is priced at -145 to win the series opener. The expected starting pitching MLB matchup in the opener will be Dane Dunning going for Texas and Baltimore countering with Kyle Bradish.

Coming into the season, Texas was tied for the 16th-best odds to reach the World Series with Baltimore tied for 19th in the championship odds. Baltimore (+700) has the fourth-best odds to win the World Series with Texas sixth at +900.

Everybody Hits, Everybody Scores

After finishing 12th in the majors in runs scored and 18th in batting average during the 2022 season, the Texas Rangers soared to No. 2 in team batting average and No. 3 in runs scored. The Rangers led the American League in both categories and were tied for the AL lead with 239 home runs. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Rangers vs Orioles preview.

Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien hit triple digits in RBIs and Corey Seager would have gotten there had he not missed 43 games.

One concern for Texas is that they were 35-36 after a loss compared to Baltimore’s 37-23 record.

The total has gone over in five of the last seven games played by Texas.

Youth Is Served for Orioles

All those high draft picks are starting to pay off.

In 2018, the Orioles’ first pick was pitcher Grayson Rodriguez. The next year, catcher Adley Rutschman was the top overall pick with infielder Gunnar Henderson going at the top of the second round.

All three of them will play key roles as Baltimore looks to win its first playoff series since 2014 and will factor prominently into the Rangers vs Orioles preview.

Henderson and Rutschman were two of the three Orioles with at least 20 home runs during the regular season with Rutschman leading the team with 92 walks.

Since the MLB All-Star Game, Rodriguez is 5-2 with a 2.58 ERA and among Baltimore pitchers, only Kyle Bradish had more strikeouts than Rodriguez.

The MLB betting lines total has gone under in each of Baltimore’s last eight games and in the last five home games.

Who’s Hot

• Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles P: Bradish is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.18 and 33 strikeouts in 33 innings in his last five starts.
• Josh Jung, Texas Rangers 3B: Jung hit .375 with three extra-base hits in the first two playoff games.
• Jose Leclerc, Texas Rangers P: Leclerc allowed two hits and no runs with three strikeouts in two innings in two appearances in this year’s playoffs.
• Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles C: In September, Rutschman led the Orioles with nine doubles, 19 walks and a .409 on-base percentage.

Who’s Not

• Aroldis Chapman, Texas Rangers P: Chapman allowed at least one run in eight of his last 14 appearances in the regular MLB season.
• Jack Flaherty, Baltimore Orioles P: Flaherty is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA over his last five games. He has allowed 25 hits and four home runs in 15 innings during that stretch.
• Robbie Grossman, Texas Rangers OF: Grossman was 1-for-9 with four strikeouts in the series against Tampa Bay.
• Cedric Mullins, Baltimore Orioles OF: Mullins is hitting .198 with 23 strikeouts over his last 28 games.

Rangers vs Orioles Injury Update

Pitcher Max Scherzer could be available in this series for the Rangers. He hasn’t pitched since Sept. 12 due to a shoulder injury. Jon Gray went on the injured list in late September with a forearm injury.

The Orioles will be without closer Felix Bautista because of an elbow injury that will require Tommy John surgery.

Rangers vs Orioles Betting Preview

Baltimore and Texas finished first and second among American League teams against the run-line total during the regular season. However, both the Orioles and Rangers had losing records versus the run line when listed as the favorite and were a combined 88-39 as underdogs.

Among American League teams, only Tampa Bay had more games finish over the total. The total is currently at eight for the series opener.

When looking at the MLB standings, Baltimore was 30-16 in one-run games during the regular season compared to a 14-22 mark for Texas. The Orioles were 51-39 against teams with winning records and the Rangers’ record in those games was just 42-45.

Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery had strong starts in the wild-card series and along with Scherzer, will be called upon to do the same versus the Orioles. The lack of postseason experience among the Baltimore starting pitchers is a concern as is the absence of closer Bautista.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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