Rio Ruiz and D.J. Stewart homered while Jorge Lopez struck out eight in five innings, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
No. 9 hitter Freddy Galvis had two extra-base hits and scored twice for the Orioles, who improved to 5-2 on the road this season. They were 1-6 in their first homestand, and had to play two doubleheaders against Seattle in the previous three days after a couple of postponements.
A week after getting no-hit by San Diego Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove, the Rangers didn't have a hit off Lopez (1-2) until David Dahl and Nick Solak started the fifth with back-to-back homers. Those were the only hits allowed by Lopez, who had given up 11 runs over 8 2/3 innings in his first two starts.
Cesar Valdez, the fourth Baltimore reliever, worked around two baserunners in the ninth for his third save in four chances. He struck out Jose Trevino, who fouled off three consecutive two-strike pitches before swinging and missing a changeup to end it.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Seven of the first 10 Rangers batters struck out, and they didn't have their first baserunner until Joey Gallo drew a two-out walk in the fourth.
Galvis opened the third with a triple before leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins doubled him home, and Ruiz went deep off Mike Foltynewicz (0-3) in the fourth to make it 2-0. Anthony Santander hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth, scoring Galvis after he started the inning with a double, and Stewart's two-run homer made it 5-0.
Foltynewicz, who has made all three of his starts at home, allowed five runs and seven hits over five innings. He struck out six and walked one while throwing 82 pitches.
After Dahl hit his first Texas homer to start the fifth. Solak followed with an opposite-field drive just over the fence and beyond the glove of right fielder Santander.
It was Baltimore's first game at the $1.2 billion Globe Life Field, where the retractable roof was closed on a night when it was 59 degrees and still misty after raining throughout the day.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: LF Austin Hays (right hamstring strain) was set to play games at the team's alternate site Friday and Saturday. Manager Brandon Hyde said the Orioles will see how Hays recovers from those, and that he could be activated from the injured list as early as Sunday for the series finale in Texas, or Tuesday in Miami.
Rangers: LHP Joely Rodriguez (left ankle sprain) was activated from the injured list and was on the active roster for the first time this season. The club optioned right-hander Josh Sborz to the alternate training site a day after his first big league victory. … OF/DH Wilie Calhoun (left groin strain) and 3B Brock Holt (right hamstring strain) both could be activated Saturday.
UP NEXT
A matchup of rookie right-handers who made their MLB debuts last season. Dean Kremer (0-1, 10.50 ERA) has given up seven runs over six innings in his two starts for Baltimore this season. Dane Dunning (1-0) has allowed one run in nine innings in his two starts as part of one of the Rangers' two rotation spots using tandem starters.
