Power Play in Charm City: 2026 Texas Rangers Extend Win Streak to Three Games Versus O’s

The 2026 Texas Rangers visited Camden Yards to take on the Baltimore Orioles after both teams came off successful opening weekends, winning two out of their first three games. The Rangers took the series against the Phillies, winning the second and third games of the series, and the Orioles took the series against the Twins, winning the first and third games. For Texas, they had 25-year-old Jack Leiter starting on the mound, and Baltimore had the righty veteran Chris Bassitt start for them, who recently turned 37-years-old. Texas finished the night with a 5-2 win over the O’s, sitting alone at the top of the AL West, and the Orioles sit third in the AL East.

To begin the game, Bassitt threw 29 pitches in the top of the first, allowing a run in on a wild throw home, trying to get Brandon Nimmo out at the plate. The 37-year-old had more than enough time to underhand the ball to Adley Rutschman, but it looked like he double-clutched and absolutely spiked the ball into the ground, allowing Nimmo to score. Alas, the Rangers left the bases loaded with a groundout from Josh Jung. With Leiter, today is his season debut, and after getting a fly ball to get the first out of the bottom of the first, he threw a goose egg of a fastball down the middle to Gunnar Henderson, and Henderson took advantage, blasting it 105 MPH and 410 feet to right-center field. After allowing a double that almost got over the wall to Rutschman, Tyler O’Neil lined out at shortstop, where Corey Seager was able to snatch it. 

Four pitches into the top of the second inning, Evan Carter torched a 102 MPH screamer into left-center field, doubling to start the inning. To begin the game, it looked like Bassitt was still trying to find the command of his breaking ball, but it was all for naught as he walked Kyle Higashioka. Nimmo continued his hot streak with his new team, as he notched his second hit of the game, scoring Carter to make the score 2-1. In a longer at-bat, Bassitt then walked Seager, making the bases loaded. In a 1-1 count, Jake Burger got his first hit of the game with a line drive to right field for a single, scoring Higashioka, making the score 3-1 with one out in the top of the second. With a full count, Joc Pederson lined out to left field, but Nimmo once again crossed the plate for his second run of the day, making the score 4-1. The Rangers put up a three-spot and ran up the 37-year-old starter’s pitch count, which was at 60 pitches, allowing five hits, three walks, and four earned runs.

Leiter began the bottom of the second with a soft groundout to Seager for the first out, and later began to feel his slider as it was working against Coby Mayo, and got his first strikeout of the season for the second out of the inning. To begin the game, the slider was painting the strike zone with a tight, late break, and Leiter was consistently hitting 98 MPH with his fastball, 93 MPH with his changeup, and the high 80s with his slider. In a competitive at-bat, Colton Cowser worked a walk. Against the ninth hitter of the lineup, Leiter got his second strikeout of the inning in a three-pitch swinging strikeout against Blaze Alexander, and he only finished with 30 pitches through two innings. 

To begin the third inning, Jung grounded out to first, and Carter lined a single to right field. Nimmo battled in the box after Higashioka flew out to left field, but couldn’t notch his third hit of the day as he swung on a nasty cutter from Bassitt, ending the inning. The 37-year-old starter needed a quick inning to give his team the best chance to not dip into the bullpen as early in the game, and he did so with a 15-pitch inning, giving Texas their first zero on the scoreboard. Leiter continued to have a great start on the mound, making quick work of Ward and Henderson with a groundout and flyout. In a six-pitch at-bat, Leiter froze the ‘Polar Bear’ Pete Alonso with a 97 MPH sinker for the backwards K. Leiter, through three innings, sat at 44 pitches, only allowing two hits and three strikeouts. 

Langford couldn’t get his second hit of the game with a flyout to center, and this is where the Orioles had to watch Bassitt as he crossed the 80 pitch mark. In a 3-2 count, Seager couldn’t get himself on base as he hit a dribbler to second base and got thrown out at first. Burger has had a monster start to the season and found himself on base with two outs in the inning after getting hit with a 69 MPH slug. Bassitt finished the top of the fourth inning at 92 pitches after getting Pederson to pop out to left field. Leiter was certainly feeling it to begin the bottom of the fourth inning, striking out the side, making it look easy with only needing four pitches against Rutschman, three against O’Neil, and four against Dylan Beavers, finishing with 55 pitches through four.

Surprisingly, Bassitt went back onto the mound to begin the fifth, trying to put in as much work as he could, but ended up walking Josh Smith for his fourth walk of the day. The 37-year-old starter recorded a swinging strikeout against Jung, making him record no hits through three at-bats, and was taken out of the game. Through 4.1 innings, Bassitt ended his day with 100 pitches, allowed six hits, four walks, three strikeouts, and four earned runs. Dietrich Enns was the man called upon first to relieve Bassitt. In a 1-1 count against Carter, Smith stole second, creating some more pressure on Enns. Carter ended up striking out from a curveball on a 3-2 count, and ‘Higgy’ ended up striking out on the same pitch, ending the inning. After starting the day with a runner on base, Enns comes back with back-to-back strikeouts in a swift 12 pitches.

In the bottom of the fifth, Leiter got Mayo on a three-pitch swinging strikeout on a 94 MPH cutter, tallying five straight strikeouts. In the matchup against Cowser, an ABS challenge extended the at-bat and worked in Cowser’s favor after dribbling a ground ball to third against the shift, allowing him to get on base. The bottom of the fifth is where Leiter began to feel the most pressure since allowing the home run back in the bottom of the first inning to Henderson, as Alexander shot one up the middle and singled, moving Cowser to second. After a popout from Ward, Henderson shot a single to shallow right field on the first pitch of the at-bat, scoring Cowser from third base. Leiter finally got out of the inning after striking out Alonso with a curveball above the strike zone, finishing with 78 pitches through five innings.

The start of the sixth inning got off to a fast start as Nimmo notched his third hit of the day and singled a bouncer up the middle of the infield. Langford was looking to get back on base, but an ABS challenge initiated by him didn’t go his way and got rung up on a strike that nicked the bottom of the zone. In four pitches, Seager got his second walk of the day. Burger was able to get on base on a fielder’s choice, advancing Nimmo to third, but Seager was thrown out at second. Pederson’s day was called early as he got subbed out by the surprisingly red-hot veteran Andrew McCutchen. In a long at-bat, McCutchen swung and missed on a high heater from Nenns, ending the chance to get some insurance runs. Through two innings, Enns threw 34 pitches and notched four strikeouts. Leiter began the bottom of the sixth against Rutschman, later getting him on a flyout to center, and got his second out on a deep flyout to left against O’Niel, and another flyout to center from Beavers. At 92 pitches, Leiter finished the sixth with a one-two-three inning, still maintaining the lead for the Rangers. 

The start of the seventh inning was quick for Texas as they fell victim to Rico Garcia, the Orioles third pitcher of the game. Smith and Carter struck out swinging, and Jung, sitting with no hits through four at-bats, lined out. Jakob Junis came in for the Rangers, relieving Leiter of his duties for the day. Leiter ended the day with six full innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk, but struck out eight batters, including a little streak of five in a row earlier in the game. Junis made an incredible play to get the first out of the bottom of the seventh on a swinging bunt from Mayo, which got challenged, but the call of out at the plate was upheld. A similar swinging bunt was hit towards Junis, but it was an easier play to make at first for the second out, and then got Alexander to ground out to Seager, finishing a one-two-three inning.

Garcia started the top of the eighth inning and continued his dominance since relieving Enns, striking out Higashioka and extending his strikeout count to three. Nimmo later flew out to center, and Langford grounded out to shortstop, completing yet another one-two-three inning for Garcia. The bottom of the eighth started with Jalen Beeks relieving Junis on the mound, and got immediately met with some pressure from the O’s as Ward got his first hit of the day with a single softly lofted to left field. Henderson was the next batter to strike out on a swing and miss from Beeks. Alonso advanced Ward to second on a ball skimming the foul line down left field, getting on base for the first time this game. The second out for Beeks came from Rutschman on a lineout to center, and Beeks, regardless of the early pressure with runners on base, was able to get O’Neil to force a groundout to Seager, ending the inning, inching the Rangers closer to victory.

Tyler Wells replaced Garcia to begin the ninth inning, and Burger was able to get on base after roping a double down the third base line. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, McCutchen was able to bounce one to Henderson, making it a tough throw to first, but McCutchen was able to beat out the throw, getting himself and Burger safe on the bases with one out. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat for Smith, he was able to get a bloop single to left field and got an RBI as Burger crossed the plate, and advanced McCutchen to second. Jung ended his night with no hits in five at-bats, including two strikeouts; not the best night for the third baseman trying to prove he belongs on the everyday batting lineup. The Rangers got an insurance run to extend the lead to 5-2, and the closer, Tyler Alexander, replaced Beeks on the mound to close the game out. In the bottom of the ninth, the O’s sent out Jeremiah Jackson to pinch hit, but he struck out on five pitches on a changeup. Mayo then flew out on the first pitch of his at-bat to make it two outs, then Ryan Mountcastle came in to pinch hit for Cowser, but he struck out, giving the Rangers their third win in a row. 

Today’s game was great, with the Rangers' pitching staff giving the fans a masterclass performance. Leiter got his first win of the new season, and the bullpen for the Rangers pitched a shutout, relieving the pressure from the batters to not try to get on base, as they got out to an early lead and never let go. Texas advances to 3-1, as the Orioles fall to .500 at 2-2, but they’ll get the chance to tie up the series as both teams will be back tomorrow night, with Zach Eflin being the probable pitcher to start for the Orioles, and yet to hear from the Rangers for who will start on the mound for them. It’ll be interesting to see what Skip Schumaker of the Rangers does about Jung and Pederson, as Jung is somewhat on “thin ice” for the third base position, and Pederson is in a battle with the righty veteran McCutchen for the DH spot in the batting lineup. Jung had a great game on the field, but didn’t offer up a fight in the batter's box after not recording a hit in five at-bats with a pair of strikeouts. Texas looks to get ahead of Eflin tomorrow and get into an early lead once again, while the Orioles look to score more in general.