ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jorge Mateo homered twice and drove in five runs to help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Tuesday night.
Batting at the bottom of the lineup, Mateo set his single-game highs for home runs and RBIs. He has 10 homers and 32 RBIs this season.
“It feels really good,” Mateo said through a translator. “Got to come back tomorrow and try to do it all over again.”
Texas starter Spencer Howard (2-3) retired the first six Baltimore batters. But he hit Ramon Urias with a pitch leading off the third inning and walked rookie Terrin Vavra before giving up Mateo’s first homer on an 0-2 count.
Adley Rutschman singled home a fourth run, and the lead grew to 5-0 on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Mountcastle.
Winning pitcher Jordan Lyles (8-8) allowed one run and scattered seven hits over 6 1/3 innings against his former team. After Lyles’ two seasons with Texas, the Orioles signed him last November as a free agent.
“He’s been the one guy all year long that has just been an anchor in our rotation,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s been huge for us, and that’s why we kept him.”
Lyles had been considered a candidate to be traded to a contender. Baltimore parted with first baseman Trey Mancini and closer Jorge Lopez in the final two days before Tuesday’s deadline.
But who says the Orioles aren’t contenders themselves? They are 53-51 and 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot after winning 51 games last season.
“We’ve got a good team still,” Lyles said. “We showcased that the last two nights. We responded well; we won two games since Trey has left.”
Mateo also insisted the Orioles could continue winning.
“It’s difficult to see two of our guys go, but we understand it’s a business. Right now, we feel like a…
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