The Orioles matched their run total for the previous three games only eight batters into this afternoon\u2019s series finale in Texas. And they were just getting warmed up.<\/p>\n
The offense came alive with four home runs for a team that was beginning to flatline on a crucial road trip.<\/p>\n
Rangers starter Kumar Rocker provided a shove more than a nudge. The Orioles led 2-0 in the first inning and 5-0 by the second in a 10-5 victory at Globe Life Field.<\/p>\n
A series loss seemed more palatable simply because it wasn\u2019t a sweep. The Orioles got back within four games of .500 at 57-61 and two of the last Wild Card as they boarded a flight to Minnesota.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve got to do better, of course. But it could have been worse.<\/p>\n
Pete Alonso had his first multi-homer game with the Orioles, and he was halfway to the cycle by the second inning. He singled with one out in the first, moved to third base on Jackson Holliday\u2019s double and scored with two outs on Dylan Beavers\u2019 infield hit. Rocker was late covering first base.<\/p>\n
Holliday came home on Leody Taveras\u2019 double, and the Orioles were rockin\u2019.<\/p>\n
Colton Cowser led off the second inning with his ninth home run, and he\u2019s still unfamiliar with the concept of a wall scraper. This ball traveled 441 feet at 108.9 mph, hitting the batter\u2019s eye in center field.<\/p>\n
Cowser delivered the third-longest home run of his career and his farthest in 2026. Eight have gone at least 400 feet this season.<\/p>\n
Here are his distances and exit velos:<\/p>\n
Aug. 9 at Rangers: 441 feet, 108.9 mph
May 24 vs. Tigers: 440 feet, 111.5 mph
June 6 at Blue Jays: 427 feet, 105 mph
May 25 vs. Rays: 425 feet, 109.3 mph
May 31 vs. Blue Jays: 424 feet, 108 mph
June 11 vs. Mariners: 416 feet, 108.5 mph
June 21 at Dodgers: 406 feet, 104.7 mph
June 7 at Blue Jays: 400 feet, 111.7 mph
May 17 at Nationals: 394 feet, 113.3 mph<\/p>\n
The last Cowser home run was June 21 at Dodger Stadium. His double last night was his first since May 30, and his first extra-base hit since June 21.<\/p>\n
Cowser added a left-on-left single in the fifth for his first multi-hit game since June 28, and a bases-loaded walk in the ninth.<\/p>\n
Gunnar Henderson walked in the second and Alonso hit his 24th home run on a fly ball down the left field line that struck the foul pole.<\/p>\n
Alonso faced left-hander Jordan Montgomery in the fourth, and his two-run shot increased the lead to 7-3 after the Rangers were building momentum.<\/p>\n
Reggie Jackson also hit 25 home runs in his first 118 games as an Oriole in 1976. Frank Robinson had the most with 37 in 1966.<\/p>\n
Tyler O\u2019Neill stayed hot with a two-run homer in the sixth. He has eight homers against left-handers since July 1.<\/p>\n
A few other notes and observations from home:<\/p>\n
*Cade Povich tossed two scoreless innings and let the Rangers get back in the game in the third.<\/p>\n
Falling behind early in the count was a dangerous approach. Povich got away with it through the second, but Brandon Nimmo hit a three-run homer on a first-pitch slider after Wyatt Langford singled and Ezequiel Duran drew a two-out walk.<\/p>\n
Povich didn\u2019t throw a first-pitch strike until his ninth batter. He totaled only four among the 15 Rangers he faced and was removed after the third inning.<\/p>\n
The bullpen followed with five scoreless innings from Yaramil Hiraldo (two), Alex Hoppe (one), Andrew Kittredge (one) and Albert Su\u00e1rez (one). Su\u00e1rez allowed two runs in the ninth.<\/p>\n
*Rocker was removed after Carlos Narv\u00e1ez\u2019s leadoff walk in the fourth, the right-hander\u2019s shortest outing since May 2. Manager Skip Schumaker brought in Montgomery, who hadn\u2019t pitched in the majors since Sept. 22, 2024 with the Diamondbacks. He had Tommy John surgery in March 2025.<\/p>\n
The Rangers activated Montgomery from the 60-day injured list on Friday. He\u2019s pitched in relief six times among his 167 appearances.<\/p>\n
Henderson grounded into a force, but Montgomery predictably lost the left-on-right matchup with Alonso, who launched a full-count changeup 404 feet to left-center field.<\/p>\n
*Coby Mayo didn\u2019t have a triple in 17 games in 2024 and 85 games last season. He didn\u2019t collect a three-bagger in his first 83 games this season.<\/p>\n
Now, he\u2019s got three in his last nine. Explain that.<\/p>\n
Mayo\u2019s liner got past a diving Nimmo in right field and it kept rolling. He was stranded.<\/p>\n
The Orioles ranked 14th in the majors with 17 triples after Mayo\u2019s at-bat. Leody Taveras leads the club with five, followed by Henderson with four and Mayo with three.<\/p>\n
The Orioles were tied for 16th last year with 19 triples. They were tied for fourth in 2024 with 33.<\/p>\n
Mayo also singled twice for his first three-hit game since Sept. 16, 2025.<\/p>\n
*Holliday might be heating up again.<\/p>\n
The former 1\/1 was 0-for-18 this month before his home run and double last night, and he had two more hits today.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll probably face former teammate Dean Kremer on Monday. The Twins are starting three right-handers in the series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orioles matched their run total for the previous three games only eight batters into this afternoon\u2019s series…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[140977,116157,1492,116163,115735,88784,133598,27,29,28,429],"class_list":["post-402388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-cade-povich","tag-coby-mayo","tag-featured","tag-jackson-holliday","tag-orioles","tag-pete-alonso","tag-roch-kubatko","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}