On the day their closest rival fired its manager, the Houston Astros achieved their largest division lead of the season.
Spencer Arrighetti, Ben Gamel, and Shay Whitcomb—players who aren’t usually the biggest stars for Houston—helped the Astros secure a 6-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Just over two months ago, Houston was 10 games behind in the AL West, but now they hold a 5 1/2-game lead over Seattle.
“This team finds ways to just stay in the fight,” manager Joe Espada said. “It’s something that has been here since I first got here.”
The Mariners did not play on Thursday but were occupied with firing manager Scott Servais. They may have missed their best chance to catch the Astros.
After making seven straight appearances in the AL Championship Series, Houston was 7-19 early this season.
Since then, the Astros have gone 62-39. Arrighetti, a rookie right-hander, gave up three hits in six innings against the Orioles. Gamel, who made his debut with the Astros after being claimed off waivers, had two RBI singles.
Whitcomb added a two-run single in the sixth inning.
“I give credit to a lot of people. It starts from our front office, and all the way down to player development,” Espada said. “For us to win, we need everyone — and I mean everyone.”
This win was the ninth consecutive road victory for the Astros, and it came against a Baltimore team that is contending for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees and was pitching its ace, Corbin Burnes.
