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Waters, Orioles look to contain slumping Rangers

Aug 10, 2008 - 7:09 AM Texas (60-58) at Baltimore (56-59) 1:35 pm. EDT

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Chris Waters' debut could not have gone any better, but the 27-year-old righthander will face a much tougher test on Sunday as he aims to keep the explosive Texas Rangers offense from busting out of its slump.

In his first career start, Waters (1-0, 0.00 ERA) held the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to one hit in eight innings of a 3-0 victory on Tuesday. It was an impressive, and unexpected performance from the lefthander, but the Angels do not have a lineup as powerful as the Rangers.

The bad news for Waters is that Texas' hitters are la ticking time bomb. The Rangers, who lead baseball with 652 runs, have been shut out twice in the last three games. On Saturday, Texas left the bases loaded twice in a 9-0 loss - its fourth straight setback.

"We're in a little funk right now," manager Ron Washington said.

Meanwhile, the Orioles have hit their stride at the plate. Nick Markakis belted a three-run homer and Melvin Mora drove in four runs in Saturday's win. Baltimore is hitting .315 as a team in its last 12 games, going 8-4.

Matt Harrison (3-2, 6.46) will try and slow the Orioles in his seventh career start. The 22-year-old lefthander allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings of an 8-6 win over New York on Tuesday.