Left-hander Cody Bradford will look to redeem himself while filling in for one of the Rangers’ most consistent arms when Texas faces the host Baltimore Orioles on Sunday in the finale of a three-game series.
Bradford (0-1, 10.80 ERA) was not expected to be Sunday’s starter, but the Rangers placed right-hander Dane Dunning on the paternity list on Saturday afternoon and called up the 25-year-old from Triple-A Round Rock.
Dunning was on a roll in the month of May, going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA. Bradford will look to fill that void when he toes the rubber in his second career major league start.
Bradford is looking to improve upon his debut, when he gave up six runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings against the Atlanta Braves on May 15. He has seen plenty of success in Round Rock, though, where he is 6-1 with a 0.99 ERA in eight starts this season.
“It’s tough debuting against this ball club,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said after Bradford pitched against Atlanta. “But he battled, gave us five innings. It’s always good to get your first start. He’ll learn from this.”
Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (2-1, 4.34) will also be looking for redemption on Sunday. Though he has made significant strides after a 2022 campaign that saw him post a 4.90 ERA in 23 starts, Bradish struggled in his outing against the New York Yankees on Tuesday, giving up four runs on seven hits in five innings.”
“Obviously, didn’t have great command,” Bradish said. “Wasn’t throwing my slider for strikes. But I got through five (innings) and kept us in the ballgame. It’s a tough loss because we jumped out to an early lead. It was definitely a grind.”
Despite that recent lapse, Bradish has been strong this season, allowing three runs or fewer in six of his eight starts.
That said, going against “a dangerous offensive team,” as Orioles manager Brandon Hyde described Texas, could present a challenge for Bradish.
“They’ve got some good veteran players,” Hyde said. “(We’ve) seen Corey Seager a lot in (Los Angeles) and we’ve seen (Marcus) Semien a ton. I like some of their young players too. It’s a good starting pitching staff and they score a bunch of runs.”
Texas averages 6.41 runs per game, the most in the major leagues, and the Rangers put their offense on full display in Friday’s 12-2 victory over Baltimore. Texas followed that performance up with a 5-3 win on Saturday to improve to 33-18, their best start through 51 games in franchise history.
“That’s great,” Bochy told Bally Sports Southwest. “It’s a start though. You have to tell yourself that. We have a lot of baseball (left). These guys are playing so well right now.”
However, come Sunday, Baltimore will be doing everything it can to try and cool the Rangers off and get back on track as it continues its nine-game road trip.
“We’ve played better games than the last two, for sure,” Hyde said. “But these things are going to happen. … We’ve got to play a little bit better.”
–Field Level Media
