Rangers eye Orioles sweep as deGrom leads playoff push

WEB DESK: The Texas Rangers are taking their cue from right-hander Jacob deGrom, who used his no-trade clause to block a proposed move to the Atlanta Braves last week.

The Rangers, riding a four-game winning streak, will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

Corey Seager hit a three-run homer while deGrom delivered five strong innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out nine, as the Rangers secured a 5-1 victory over the Orioles on Saturday.

The outing was deGrom’s first since he made clear his desire to remain with the Rangers and help the team reach the postseason and compete for a World Series title
“When somebody goes out and says that and says that’s why he wanted to stay, that means a lot,” Seager said. “That goes a long way in a clubhouse. I think people are rallying behind that, and that’s exciting.”

“You’ve heard me use the term aircraft carriers, and that’s what they look like,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Corey Seager is that guy. Jacob deGrom is that guy.”

The Rangers hold the third and final wild-card spot in the American League and have moved a half-game back of the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West.

Baltimore has lost three games in a row to fall three games behind the Rangers in the wild-card standings. The Orioles have scored one run in each of their past three games.

“We had some good swings (Saturday), some loud contact just at guys, but also, we’ve got to find the ability to be able to get back to moving the runners over, playing a little bit of small ball and just move the ball forward sometimes,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said.

The Orioles went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position on Saturday and are 3-for-25 in their last seven games.

Baltimore will send left-hander Cade Povich (2-1, 3.91 ERA) to the mound in the series finale. He made his first start in nearly three months on Tuesday in a 3-1 home win over the Los Angeles Angels, striking out seven over six scoreless innings.

Povich, 26, threw 60 of his 88 pitches for strikes in his first outing since being sidelined in early May with left elbow inflammation. He also picked off two runners.

“Povich was great. He had some traffic, but he did a great job of navigating it,” Albernaz said. “The two pickoffs were huge for Povich, too. That’s a real pickoff move, and to eliminate two baserunners like that was big.”

Povich will face the Rangers for the second time in his career. He allowed two runs over five innings in a 6-5 win over them on June 29, 2024.

Texas will counter with right-hander Kumar Rocker (4-8, 4.08 ERA), who allowed three runs and a career-high 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Houston Astros last Sunday. The Rangers lost 7-3.

Rocker, 26, has issued multiple walks in each of his last four starts and owns a 98-to-40 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 108 innings this season. He will make his first career appearance against Baltimore.