O's rally back, mash vs. Rangers 'pen in win

It looked like it was going to be a long night for Baltimore offensively with Texas right-hander Dane Dunning dealing through the first six innings. But the bats came alive in the late innings as the Orioles defeated the Rangers, 6-1, on Saturday night at Globe Life Field.

Baltimore has won back-to-back games and improved its record to 7-8.

The Orioles could muster only four hits against Dunning. Baltimore had a runner in scoring position only once across the first six innings, which came with two outs in the fifth; Cedric Mullins struck out to end the threat.

“I thought Dunning pitched extremely well. He made it tough on us with the sinker and slider,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “He came right after us with no walks and pitched into contact early in the count.”

The offense came to life once Dunning left the game. Freddy Galvis led the way with four hits. In fact, he played a role in helping the Orioles tie the score at 1 in the seventh. With left-hander Taylor Hearn on the mound, Galvis doubled with two outs -- narrowly missing a homer -- before Mullins singled to right to tie the score.

The Orioles scored the go-ahead runs off of left-hander Joely Rodríguez in the eighth. With runners on first and second, Trey Mancini doubled down the left-field line, scoring DJ Stewart. Ryan Mountcastle followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Maikel Franco.

“At the end of the day, we have to understand that we are going to have some trouble hitting,” Franco said. “But at the end of the day, we have to go out there and grind and be tough and fight during the at-bat -- do everything you can to get better.”

The Orioles added to the lead in the ninth when Galvis scored on a single by Stewart, before Franco capped it off with a two-run homer.

“It’s big to add to the lead and tack on runs,” Hyde said. “One thing we have been short on in the last couple of years is when we do get leads, we are not able to [add on] and make it easier on our bullpen. I was really impressed with our at-bats the last few innings.”

The Orioles’ bullpen was able to shut down the Rangers for 4 1/3 innings after starter Dean Kremer left the game having allowed one run across 4 2/3 frames.

"We just haven't really strung any consistent at-bats together, like just one after another,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “We had a little run there for a couple of batters, but overall, we're just not hitting. We're getting good counts, and I feel like we're getting some good pitches to hit sometimes and we're just not doing anything with that early in the game."