ARLINGTON, Texas — Grayson Rodriguez struck out eight over six innings for his AL-best 12th win, and Cedric Mullins
became the eighth Baltimore batter with 10 home runs this season as the Orioles
beat the Texas Rangers 8-4 on Saturday night.
Jordan Westburg and Ryan O’Hearn also went deep to increase Baltimore’s major
league-best total to 156 home runs, 16 more than the New York Yankees.
The AL East-leading Orioles, the first American League team to reach 60 wins, went ahead to stay with a four-run
second against Max Scherzer (1-3). The three-time Cy Young Award winner
didn’t return at the start of the next inning because of arm fatigue.
Rodriguez (12-4) struck out the side in the sixth to end his night. The right-
hander allowed his only three hits and two runs in a four-batter span in the
second inning before retiring 13 of the last 14 he faced.
“I thought he got better as the game went on. A little shaky maybe early, allowed a
couple runs there, balls on the middle of the plate,” Orioles manager Brandon
Hyde said. “But as the game went on I thought the fastball got even better and
stepped on a bunch to get some outs. Went six big innings for us.”
Rodriguez is the first Orioles pitcher since Sidney Ponson in 2003 to win 12 of his first 18 appearances in a season.
