Don’t blame the starting pitching.

Kyle Bradish held the Rangers to two unearned runs last night in six innings. The team committed two errors, went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and stranded six, and left-hander Grant Wolfram walked two batters in the eighth and surrendered a three-run homer to Corey Seager.

Shane Baz tossed an eight-inning complete game Friday night with two runs, three hits and nine strikeouts. The offense went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.

The Orioles have lost the first two games of an important series in a crucial road trip by a combined score of 7-2. Their record is 56-61, they’re three games back for the final Wild Card, and four teams are ahead of them. The Mariners and Blue Jays are a half-game behind them.

The club has seven hits or fewer in the last eight games, the third-longest streak in Orioles history after 11 in 2001 and nine in 1956, per STATS.

The Orioles have scored one run in three consecutive games. The team record for tallying one run or fewer is four in a row, last done in 2024.

An Orioles loss today would mark the first time the Rangers swept them in Texas since Aug. 28-30, 2015.

Left-hander Cade Povich is on the mound this afternoon. He returned to the rotation on Tuesday against the Angels and tossed six scoreless innings with seven hits and seven strikeouts.

Povich faced the Rangers in his fifth major league game on June 29, 2024 at Camden Yards and earned the win after allowing two runs in five innings.

Seager is 1-for-2 with a home run against Povich.

Gunnar Henderson stays in the leadoff spot and Jackson Holliday remains third in the order.

Tyler O’Neill is the cleanup hitter, Coby Mayo is at third base and Carlos Narváez is catching a day game after a night game.

Holliday is batting .520 in his last seven road games dating back to July 22. Holliday belted his 28th career home run last night, his 27th as a second baseman. Only six other players have hit that many before turning 23 years old, according to STATS.

Texas has won four in a row and right-hander Kumar Rocker makes today’s start. The third-overall draft pick in 2022 (and the 10th overall by the Mets in 2021) has registered a 4.08 ERA in 21 games (19 starts). He had back-to-back quality starts, holding the White Sox to one run in six scoreless innings on July 21, before allowing three runs and 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in Houston.

Right-handers are hitting .209/.266/.321 against Rocker and left-handers are hitting .286/.361/.477. He’s never faced the Orioles.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is the only current player to face Rocker. He’s 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

The Orioles fly to Minnesota after today’s game. Here are the probables, including former Oriole Dean Kremer:

Monday: LHP Trevor Rogers vs. RHP Dean Kremer
Tuesday: RHP Brandon Young vs. RHP Bailey Ober
Wednesday: Shane Baz vs. RHP Zebby Matthews

For the Orioles
Gunnar Henderson SS
Pete Alonso 1B
Jackson Holliday 2B
Tyler O’Neill DH
Dylan Beavers LF
Leody Taveras RF
Coby Mayo 3B
Colton Cowser CF
Carlos Narváez C

Cade Povich LHP

For the Rangers
Wyatt Langford LF
Corey Seager DH
Ezequiel Duran SS
Brandon Nimmo RF
Jake Burger 1B
Justin Foscue 2B
Elias Díaz C
Jonah Bride 3B
Cam Cauley CF

Kumar Rocker RHP