Texas Rangers (37-47) at Baltimore Orioles (45-39) RHP Yu Darvish (8-4, 2.42) vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen (7-3, 4.19) Game #85 • Road #44 (19-24) • Thurs., July 3, 2014 • Oriole Park at Camden Yards • 6:05 p.m. CDT • FSSW / 103.3 FM / 1270 AM WINS AND LOSSES: The Rangers lost to the Orioles 6-4 last night and FLYING ACE: Yu Darvish starts tonight looking to stop the Rangers’ are 0-3 on this 7-game, 7-day road trip to Baltimore (0-3) and New York-NL 4-game losing streak…in 9 starts after a Rangers loss this season, Dar- (3 G)…Texas has lost 4 straight and 13 of 16, going 23-38 since 4/25… vish is 4-3, 2.31 (16 ER/61.2 IP), while the team is 6-3 in those games (2 those spans include a season-high 8-game losing streak from June 17-26, of the 3 losses were shutout defeats)…over 37 starts after a Texas loss in club’s longest drought since dropping 8 in a row from 8/8-16/05…Rangers his career, Darvish has a higher winning pct. and an ERA over a half-run join the Yankees (4), Mets (4), and Phillies (6) as teams with current slides lower than his overall career figures…in those 37 starts, Darvish has gone of 4+ games…have lost 13 of 16 for first time since 9/1-18/13…current 19-9 (.679) with a 2.56 ERA (71 ER/250.0 IP), .201 (181-899) opp. avg. record marks Rangers’ fewest wins thru 83 games since 2007 (36-48/36- and 313 K’s…Rangers are 24-13 (.649) in those games…overall in his 49 after 85 games), as club had been .500-or-better in all 6 seasons in the career, Darvish is 37-22 (.627) with a 3.15 ERA…dating to last season, 4 interim…club is now a season-low 10 games under .500 for the first time of last 5 times Rangers have lost a Darvish start immediately after a Texas since a 75-87 record (12-under) to finish the 2007 campaign…club has loss, it came when Texas was shut out, winning 8 of last 9 times they’ve been at .500 or below for 24 straight days since last winning mark on 6/6 at scored in such a start. 31-30…has been season-high 6 games over .500 twice. • Texas has gone 2-7-1 in last 10 series (including this series loss). MILES MIKOLAS was left with a no decision last night in his first major league start despite exiting the game in the 6th inning with a 4-1 lead…it STANDINGS: Texas has been in 4th place for 17 straight and 29 of the last was the 8th time all season a Texas starter exited in position to win, only 30 days beginning 6/3…the club has not been as low as 4th place this late to be undone by a blown save, first since Joe Saunders on 6/14 at SEA. in the season since the end of 2007 (4th)…the Rangers have dropped 7.0 • Mikolas is the 5th Texas starter age 25-or-younger (age as of June 30) games in the standings the last 16 days to double their deficit from 7.0 to a this season, joining Miami (7) and Seattle (6) as the only MLB clubs with season-high 14.0 games (4th straight day) behind the division-leading A’s, 5 or more in 2014. the team’s largest deficit at any point in a season since the end of 2008 (21.0 GB)…it has been 16 days since Rangers last gained ground in the ADRIAN BELTRE went 2-for-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI last night, hits in 6 West by beating Oakland on 6/16…currently sit 2.0 games ahead of the straight and 11 of last 12…he is hitting .353 (76-215) since the start of May, 5th-place Astros (-16.0 GB)…Texas had not previously trailed by as many 2nd-highest in MLB (min. 173 PA’s) to only Jose Altuve (.377)…next-clos- as 14.0 games this early in a season since 2007 (14.5 GB through 56 G). est Ranger since start of May is Alex Rios (.297)…Beltre ranked 2nd in A.L. and 4th in MLB with a .392 average in June, highest monthly figure of ON ROAD: Rangers have dropped a season-high 8 straight on the road his career and highest by any Ranger since Josh Hamilton hit .395 in April to fall to 19-24 in ‘14, season-high 5 games under .500 on the road… 2012…Beltre’s June was just the 7th individual month in club history for a current drought is longest road losing streak in almost 9 years, since 9 player to hit .392-or-better with 22+ RBI. straight, 7/31-8/16/05, when Buck Showalter was the manager…Texas has dropped 11 of last 15 away from home after opening year with a 15-13 SHIN-SOO CHOO reached safely 4 times last night (hit to leadoff game mark. and 3 BB)…it was the first time any Ranger other than Adrian Beltre had • Texas ranks 4th in both A.L. and majors with a .266 road batting average, reached safely (via H/BB/HBP) in a game since Choo’s last instance on hitting .239 (145-606) last 18 road games beg. 5/27 to drop season figure 5/25 at DET, over a month ago…the only Rangers with more than 2 in- from .285…club is averaging 3.22 R/G (58 R) in last 18 road contests after stances of reaching 4+ times in a game this season are Choo (8) and averaging 4.96 R/G in first 25 away tilts. Beltre (5)…Rangers’ 22 instances by individuals in ‘14 are T10th in MLB. • Choo drew 3 walks last night, giving him 45 BB for the season, T8th-most BACK TO BALTIMORE: Rangers are 1-5 against the O’s in ‘14 enter- in the A.L…his 3rd-inning walk last night ended a career-long 13-game ing clubs’ final meeting tonight, having already lost the season series… span for Choo without a free pass, as it was his first since 6/16 at OAK. club’s lone win this season on 6/5 in Arlington snapped a 7-game losing • Choo singled on the game’s first pitch last night…when leading off the streak vs. BAL…prior to the current 1-10 stretch against O’s that began on game for Texas, Choo has batted .304 (14-46) with 6 BB and 2 HBP in 54 7/10/13, Rangers had gone 12-2 from start of 2011 thru 7/9/13…have now contests, a .407 OBP. lost season series in 3 of last 5 years, but have 45-39 lead since start of 2005…Texas split a 4-game series in Baltimore last year, winning first 2 G I’LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU THOUGH NEW YORK: The Rangers are by scoring 8 runs in each, and losing last 2 G by scoring one run in each… scheduled to fly to New York after tonight’s game for a 3-game weekend have gone 14-12 at Camden Yards beginning 8/10/08…O’s lead all-time series with the Mets…Texas is 3-6 all-time vs. Mets, dropping 2 of 3 in series 245-194-1, including leads of 123-98 in Baltimore and 56-52-1 at each of the 3 series between the clubs…teams played in 2003 and 2011 Camden Yards…O’s also won ‘12 A.L. Wild Card Game in Arlington. in Arlington, and in 2008 (June 13 and June 15-DH) at Shea, that venue’s • Texas is 5-13 vs. A.L. East in 2014, 2-7 on the road, losing 9 of last 11 final season, and the only time the Rangers have ever played the Mets in overall against the East. Queens…the Rangers are 5-7 vs. the N.L. in 2014, losing 6 of last 9 and 10 of 15 overall beginning last Sept. 9…Texas is 1-4 on road vs. N.L. this RAINING IN BALTIMORE: Last night’s game had a rain delay of 1:38 in season, lone win in last road tilt on 6/1 at WSH (Darvish start). the bottom of the 8th inning, as Texas added another to its list of frequent • Citi Field will be the 47th park in which Rangers have played a regular delays when playing here…the Rangers had been the only remaining MLB season game (1972-2014)…club has a 17-29 record all-time in first regular team that had yet to endure a delay or postponement this season…last season games in a venue, winning 2 straight after losing previous 6. night was club’s first delay (home or road) since last Aug. 14 vs. MIL (0:37 • Rangers are 24-20 all-time on the Fourth of July, winning 10 of 14, and due to rain) and team has not been postponed since May 29, 2013 vs. ARI club is 17-6 on the holiday beg. 1991…tomorrow would be just 4th time in a (field conditions). span of 19 years (beg.