Texas Rangers lean to Mike Minor to salvage series before the break

Mike Minor will take the mound for the Texas Rangers in the last game before the All-Star break. He’ll fight for a series win against the worst team in baseball.

It sure would be nice if the Texas Rangers could win a series against the worst team in MLB before getting a four-day break. They’ve split the first two games against the Baltimore Orioles, winning 5-4 on Friday and losing 1-0 on Saturday. The matchup for game three will be Mike Minor vs. TBD (To Be Determined).

Right off the bat, you’d have to like the Rangers’ chances against an unscheduled pitcher. Rumor has it Baltimore may start and finish this afternoon’s game with members of their bullpen. The Texas offense can use all the help they can get. After a scorching-hot home stand, the bunch has averaged less than three runs per game in the first nine games of their ten-game road trip. They scored zero runs in two of those games.

Depending on which offense shows up, the Texas Rangers may rely heavily on a stellar outing from Mike Minor. Minor has been a tremendous safety net as of late. He’s won three of his last five starts and the two losses came against powerhouses known as the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox.

Frankly, neither loss was because of Minor. He allowed just three runs to Houston over six innings and two runs to Boston over 5 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, the lefty got four runs of support between the two starts.

A traditional six innings of quality work from Minor may be all that is needed to secure a win. The trustworthy bullpen can take it from there. In the first two games of the series, Rangers relievers have not given up a run. The relief staff deserves a ton of credit, especially considering the recent losses of Tony Barnette, Chris Martin and Alex Claudio to the disabled list.

We’ll see which offense shows up today. Much will depend on the assortment of pitchers the Orioles put together. With that said, confidence levels in Minor and the Ranger pen are at an all-time high.

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Neither the Rangers nor the Orioles are riding much momentum. As a matter of fact, each team is more so focused on finding their momentum in the trade market. Regardless, tune in to some Texas Rangers baseball before you are deprived of it for four days.