The Tuesday night Orioles game thread: vs. Rangers, 7:05

Another right-handed Orioles starter takes his turn against a lefty-loaded Texas Rangers lineup on Tuesday night. In the case of Miguel Gonzalez, he has at least had some more success against LHB this year than his rotation-mate Bud Norris, so maybe that will go a little better. We can only hope.

One new look in the Rangers lineup tonight is that Josh Hamilton is back from an injury rehab assignment. That is really a peculiar saga, although in the short few games before Hamilton's latest injury it was working out. Here's hoping that Gonzalez can find a way to navigate this lineup.

As for the O's lineup, well, this is what we've got. It seems like the Chris Davis in right field, Chris Parmelee at first base thing is going to be a regular occurrence against right-handed pitchers. Because the Orioles didn't have enough outfielders already, so they might as well turn Davis into one too.

Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter know their plan better than I know their plan, of course, but for right now there are many head-scratchers, with the steadfast refusal to remove an underperforming outfielder like Delmon Young being foremost among the mysteries. There's also the apparent continuing to extend Jonathan Schoop's rehab assignment longer than they need to - and, reportedly, considering optioning him when his rehab is done with. I know Ryan Flaherty is playing fairly well, but really... are you going to just pretend Schoop isn't available because you don't want to DFA somebody?

Anyway, this series is four games long and the O's can even it up at 1-1 if they win tonight. Winning tonight also guarantees they'll be in first place in the AL East for at least another day. So Orioles, if you could go ahead and win on Tuesday... yeah, that would be great.