Houston Astros at Baltimore Orioles

· Major League Baseball

Houston Astros

69-59, 34-30 Away

Final
5 - 7

Baltimore Orioles

75-55, 38-29 Home

Anthony Santander slam in 8th inning rallies Orioles past Astros 7-5

Baltimore managed only three hits and trailed 5-2 before rallying to end Houston's nine-game road winning streak. Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman singled before Abreu (2-2) snagged a comebacker but was late trying to get Cowser leaning off third base, loading the bases.

“The route you want him to go is a 1-6-3 double play,” manager Joe Espada said. “But his first reaction is, he sees the runner break and instincts take over.”

Santander then ripped a 2-1 fastball over the right-field wall for his 38th home run of the season. His second slam this season and the fourth of his career set off a wild celebration among the crowd of nearly 40,000.

“I'm so happy the fans stayed in that kind of game to support us,” Santander said.

Ramón Urías tacked on an RBI triple to cap the five-run outburst.

Craig Kimbrel (7-4) worked the eighth and Seranthony Domínguez got three outs for his fifth save, the fourth since coming to Baltimore in a July trade with Philadelphia.

Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered for Houston, and starter Hunter Brown pitched six innings of three-hit ball.

In the end, that didn't matter for a first-place team looking to pad its lead in the AL West.

“The way I see it is, we've got to turn the page, flush that one and get ready for tomorrow,” Espada said.

The Astros were 10 games out of first place on June 18. Now they’re in control in the division, but Espada knows things can change in a hurry.

“It feels good to be in this spot, but we’re not spiking the football,” the manager said. “There’s a lot of baseball left."

The Orioles, meanwhile, scrambled to avoid their sixth loss in eight games.

“We've been struggling a little bit the last couple of weeks, and that was a big hit right there,” Santander said. “It's a reminder who we are.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: Yordan Alvarez (.306, 25 HRs, 67 RBI) was a late scratch with neck stiffness. He was replaced at DH by Alex Bregman, who was initially penciled in at 3B — his first game in the field since Aug. 14. Bregman has been nursing an elbow injury, which caused him to miss five games and could result in a move to 1B in the near future. “It's going to be a fluid situation,” Espada said.

Orioles: CF Cedric Mullins left in the fifth inning with left quad tightness. ... 1B Ryan Mountcastle wasn't in the lineup after hurting his wrist while running the bases on Thursday.

Houston lefty Framber Valdez (13-5, 3.20 ERA) looks to win his sixth straight start Saturday and improve to 9-0 since June 18. Albert Suárez (6-4, 3.18), who's had three straight scoreless outings, starts for Baltimore.

How can I watch Houston Astros vs. Baltimore Orioles?

TV Channel: Astros at Orioles 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB Net.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Orioles: 48.7%

Astros: 51.3%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Bregman flied out to center.
	9th Inning	Altuve grounded out to third.
	9th Inning	Gamel flied out to left.
	9th Inning	Domínguez relieved Kimbrel
	8th Inning	McCann grounded out to third.
	8th Inning	Holliday struck out swinging.

Statistics

HOU		BAL
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
11	Ground Balls	13
5	Strikeouts	9
5	Runs Batted In	6
1	Sacrifice Hit	0
10	Hits	8
0	Stolen Bases	1
2	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
5	Runs	7
2	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
34	At Bats	34
2	Home Runs	2
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	1
13	Runners Left On Base	14
0	Triples	1
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	0
19	Fly Balls	12
0	Caught Stealing	0
147	Pitches	154
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
18	Total Bases	16
38	Plate Appearances	36
324.0	Projected Home Runs	324.0
4	Extra Base Hits	3
5.6	Runs Created	4.8
.294	Batting Average	.235
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.529	Slugging Percentage	.471
.294	Secondary Average	.324
.351	On Base Percentage	.278
.881	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.748
0.6	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.1
5.6	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	4.9
40.0	Batter Rating	43.5
17.0	At Bats Per Home Run	17.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.87	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.28
.235	Isolated Power	.235
0.40	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.22
.053	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.056
.000	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.088
10.0	Runs Produced	13.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	0.9
0.6	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.3
90.8	MLB Rating	88.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0