Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle each had a homer and two RBIs to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon.
Rutschman and James McCann had two hits apiece as the Orioles salvaged the finale of the three-game series. Dean Kremer (11-4) pitched seven solid innings for his first victory since July 14.
Baltimore hasn’t been swept in 76 straight series of at least two games since May 13-15, 2022, when the Detroit Tigers won three straight. The streak is the fifth longest in major league history.
Jose Altuve homered among four hits and Yanier Diaz also went deep for the Astros, who dropped to 16-9 since the All-Star break.
Jose Abreu (back) and Chas McCormick (knee) missed the game with injuries for the Astros.
Kremer allowed two runs and six hits before exiting. He struck out five and walked two.
The Astros had two on with two out in the eighth when Orioles right-hander Yennier Cano entered and was greeted by Mauricio Dubon’s bloop single to pull Houston within 5-3. Cano then struck out Jeremy Pena to end the threat.
In the ninth, Altuve doubled with one move out against Felix Bautista. The bases were loaded with two out when Diaz reached on an infield single to cut the margin to one.
Bautista then retired Jon Singleton on a pop fly to record his 31st save as the Orioles won for the eighth time in 11 games.
Houston’s Hunter Brown allowed five runs and eight hits over six-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked none.
Rutschman smacked Brown’s third pitch of the game over the wall in left center to get Baltimore on the board. It was his 16th blast of the season.
Diaz led off the second by sending a pitch over the wall in right center to tie it. It was Diaz’s 15th homer of the campaign.
Ramon Urias led off the Baltimore third with a triple and scored on McCann’s single to center to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead.
In the sixth, McCann led off with a double and Rutschman followed with an RBI single to center.
Altuve slugged a homer to center with two outs in the seventh, his ninth.
Mountcastle hit a two-run shot to left center in the bottom of the frame, his 15th, to make it 5-2.
–Field Level Media