Kyle Tucker’s ninth-inning grand slam lifted the visiting Houston Astros to a 7-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series.
After pulling within 6-3 on Jeremy Pena’s run-scoring single in the eighth, the Astros capped their rally against Baltimore All-Star closer Felix Bautista (6-2).
Pinch hitter Jon Singleton led off with a walk before Jose Altuve singled and Alex Bregman struck out. Yordan Alvarez singled off the center field wall to set things up for Tucker, who fouled off four straight pitches before driving a fastball over the right-center-field fence to clear the bases.
Tucker went 2-for-4 with two runs and five RBIs for the Astros, who won for the sixth time in their past eight games. Pena went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Bregman went 2-for-5 with a run for Houston.
Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle each hit a two-run homer for the Orioles, who saw their four-game winning streak end. Rutschman went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs, while Mountcastle went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. James McCann went 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
The Orioles jumped all over Astros starter Framber Valdez — who had thrown a no-hitter last Tuesday in his last start — in the first three innings. The lefty gave up a two-run homer to Mountcastle in the first inning before getting tagged for three runs in the second.
After McCann’s fielder’s choice scored Ramon Urias, who hit a one-out triple, Rutschman belted a two-run shot to left, making it 5-0.
The Astros pulled to within 5-2 in the third. After Houston loaded the bases with one out, Tucker delivered an RBI single to right that scored Altuve before Yainer Diaz’s sacrifice fly plated Bregman.
The Orioles stretched their advantage to 6-2 in the fourth on McCann’s sacrifice fly that scored Jordan Westburg, who had led off with a ground-rule double and advanced to third on Urias’ groundout.
Baltimore rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks before being relieved by Mike Baumann to open the seventh.
Valdez allowed six runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks in seven innings before being relieved by Ryne Stanek (3-1), who picked up the win by tossing a scoreless eighth.
Ryan Pressley pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 27th save of the season.
–Field Level Media