Tonight at 8:05 p.m. ET the Baltimore Orioles (28-27), trying to remain in the thick of things in the American League East, will head to Texas to face the Rangers (29-28). Live stream the game by clicking this link; Orioles fans can find the radio broadcast on 1090 WBAL, while Rangers fans may do the same on 103.3 ESPN. Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6, 4.65 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Orioles, while Texas sends out Joe Saunders (0-1, 4.15 ERA).
Tonight marks the return of outfielder Nelson Cruz to Texas--Cruz didn't accept Texas' qualifying offer and ended up settling for less to play in Baltimore. He was suspended for PED use last season, but assuming he's clean, it appears he didn't need them. Cruz is currently the best bargain in baseball as he leads MLB in home runs with 19.
"If you could read the future, yeah, you would probably take the qualifying offer," Cruz said. "But it's something that you risk and you trust your instincts. In this case, it wasn't what I expected. But I'm happy with my decision and happy with where I am now."
Cruz said that he will be playing tonight as if it were any other game, not his return to Texas. "You just treat it like another game," Cruz said. "So (I'll) see how it feels and just go from there."
Cruz and Jimenez were Baltimore's two big additions this offseason, and while Cruz has been a resounding success Ubaldo's flopped. His last outing was promising, and lowered his ERA to 4.65. "I was able to get a little bit deeper in the game and that's always good," Jimenez said. "Hopefully I get deeper than that in my next game."
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