The set-up: The 61-45 Orioles lead the AL East by one game and the 63-46 Rangers own a 5 1/2 game lead in the AL West. The two first-place teams conclude a three-game series in Baltimore tonight, with the Orioles looking to complete a sweep. Baltimore won 5-1 on Tuesday and eked out a 3-2 win last night. The Rangers added Carlos Beltran and Jonathan Lucroy to an already potent offense on Monday's final trading day but have managed just three runs in two games with the two new All-Stars in the lineup. The conventional wisdom was that the Orioles needed major upgrades to its pitching staff in order to hold off the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox in the AL East but in winning three in a row, Baltimore pitching has surrendered a total of five runs.

The pitching matchup: A.J. Griffin (4-1, 3.99 ERA) takes the mound for Texas and the newly acquired Wade Miley (7-8, 4.98 ERA) gets the nod for Baltimore. The Orioles managed to get lefty Wade Miley from Seattle and he'll make his Baltimore debut in Thursday's series finale. Miley returns to the AL East, as he was a member of the Boston Red Sox rotation last season. Miley opened the season 6-2 over his first 11 starts with Seattle going 9-2, despite a 5.27 ERA. However, while his ERA fell slightly (to 4.98), he was 1-6 over his final seven outings with the Mariners. Griffin has seen the Rangers go 9-4 in his starts this season (plus-$686) and is making just his second career start against Baltimore.

The pick: This marks Griffin's eighth start since coming off the DL back on June 25 and he has yet to complete six innings in that span. As for Miley, he has already seen Texas three times this season (is 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA / team is 1-2) and in his career, is 1-4 with a 5.55 ERA against the Orioles in six starts (teams are 2-4). That said, the Orioles own the best home record in the majors at 39-16 (plus-$1960), meaning Miley is in the right place at the right time. 10* play on the Orioles.