Sunday afternoon Orioles game thread: vs. Rangers, 1:05

The Orioles haven’t exactly been handled this series. But if they’re not careful, they could be swept away nonetheless.

After losing a pair of games by a total of three runs - and blowing a late lead in one of them - the Orioles were less competitive in last night’s 9-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Now Baltimore has a final shot to hold off a sweep at home and gain just a bit of momentum heading into its next series with the NL-best Los Angeles Dodgers.

Unfortunately, however, to do this the Orioles will have to go up against Texas’s best pitcher. Mike Minor is 12-8 with a 3.12 ERA, and 180 strikeouts in 181.2 innings. The 31-year-old has faced the Orioles once this season, and pitched 5.2 innings on June 5, a 2-1 Texas win. He allowed seven hits and no runs while striking out seven.

Opposing him will be Asher Wojciechowski, who is 2-7 with a 5.12 ERA. Wojciechowski, who has not faced the Rangers yet this season, allowed four runs in seven innings in a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay his last start.

Orioles lineup

Hanser Alberto 3B

Trey Mancini RF

Anthony Santander LF

Renato Nunez 1B

Jonathan Villar 2B

Mark Trumbo DH

Austin Hays CF

Pedro Severino C

Richie Martin SS

• RHP Asher Wojciechowski

Rangers lineup

Shin-Soo Choo RF

Rougned Odor 2B

Willie Calhoun LF

Nick Solak DH

Logan Forsythe SS

Ronald Guzman 1B

Delino DeShields Jr. CF

Isiah Kiner-Falefa 3B

Jose Trevino C

• LHP Mike Minor