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Rangers-Orioles Preview

Sep 5, 2009 - 4:30 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Texas (75-58) at Baltimore (54-80), 4:10 p.m. EDT

Texas pitchers were struggling against the Baltimore Orioles before the teams' last matchup. The Rangers appear to have a good opportunity to get another effective performance with Kevin Millwood set to take the mound.

The Rangers, winners of four straight, look to help Millwood win his eighth straight start versus the Orioles on Saturday.

Texas (76-58) was 4-3 against Baltimore (54-81) entering this three-game set but had a 6.14 ERA in those contests. The Rangers, though, got a strong start from Scott Feldman to beat the Orioles 5-1 on Friday night.

It was the fourth straight win for Texas, which is 3 1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the AL West while trailing wild-card leading Boston by two games.

"We have to keep winning. Even when they win, we have to win," Rangers left fielder Marlon Byrd said. "When they lose, we have to win. We can't take any game for granted from now on. It's crunch time, so now we have to get on a streak."

Millwood's outstanding pitching has played a large role in Texas' push for its first playoff appearance since 1999. Millwood (10-8, 3.61 ERA) can help the Rangers' cause again by continuing his dominance against Baltimore.

Millwood has posted a 2.02 ERA in winning his last seven starts against the Orioles, surrendering two home runs in 49 innings. Millwood was pitching for Cleveland when he last lost to Baltimore, a 4-0 defeat on July 2, 2005.

He's 9-2 with a 3.42 ERA in 12 career starts versus the Orioles.

Millwood was in line for a win in his last outing but ended up without a decision after giving up two runs in six inning of Texas' 5-3 loss to Minnesota on Sunday.

Baltimore will counter with Brian Matusz (3-2, 5.28), who is coming off the best performance of his career. He allowed one run and four hits while striking out eight in seven innings to earn a win in Baltimore's 5-2 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.

It was the 22-year-old left-hander's sixth major league start.

"I haven't been consistently pounding the strike zone with all my pitches," said Matusz, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft. "I kind of actually just visually broke it down and went back to seeing, visualizing how I felt when I was at my best."

Matusz has never faced the Rangers, who may be without slugger Josh Hamilton for the second straight game. Hamilton stayed in Texas on Friday following a bad reaction to a shot he took to ease the pain from a pinched nerve in his back.

It's uncertain if Hamilton will rejoin the team over the weekend. Byrd will likely slide from left field to center again if Hamilton can't play.

Byrd went 2 for 4 and Nelson Cruz hit his 31st home run for the Rangers. Cruz has four homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games.

Baltimore, meanwhile, has scored two runs or fewer in three of its last four games, losing all of those contests.

Brian Roberts had the Orioles' lone RBI on Friday. Roberts, usually the leadoff hitter, was in the No. 3 spot to fill the void left by All-Star center fielder Adam Jones (ankle), who has missed two straight games.