Orioles' early lead lasts in win over Rangers

Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle both drove in two runs and Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Spenser Watkins worked six strong innings in a 7-2 victory against the Texas Rangers on Monday night in Arlington, Texas.

It was a strong outing for the Orioles just hours after the traded veteran Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros.

The Rangers, appearing in their first home game since the All-Star break, never threatened against Watkins until Corey Seager's one-out home run in the sixth. Texas won three of its previous four games to complete a 5-6 road trip before its dud on Monday.

Watkins (4-1), who won last month against Texas when he allowed just one run in 6 2/3 innings, ended up yielding five hits without a walk while striking out five. He has won four straight decisions and hasn't suffered a loss since May 11 at St. Louis, though he spent most of June with Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles avoided what would have been their first three-game losing streak since dropping four in a row from June 29-July 2.

Rangers starter Jon Gray (7-6) lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He was charged with four runs, three of them earned, on four hits and a walk. He struck out three.

Mullins led off the game with his ninth home run of the season. He also drove in the game's second run with a second-inning single.

Mountcastle's run production came with a second-inning single and a fourth-inning double. Baltimore's Adley Rutschman and Jorge Mateo also had RBI doubles.

Rutschman, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2019, had his second three-hit game in the majors by going 3-for-4 to lead the Orioles' 12-hit attack.

It was 6-0 by the time Seager smashed his 24th home run of the season. Nick Solak hit a pinch-hit home run in the eighth off Orioles reliever Keegan Akin, who posted his second save by working the final three innings.

Nathaniel Lowe had three of Texas' seven hits.