Anthony Santander hit a grand slam off Bryan Abreu in the eighth inning, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-5 comeback win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Baltimore had only three hits and was behind 5-2 before making a comeback that ended Houston’s nine-game road winning streak. Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman both singled, and although Abreu (2-2) managed to catch a comebacker, he was too late to tag Cowser at third base, which loaded 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 smashed a 2-1 fastball over the right-field wall for his 38th home run of the season. This was his second grand slam of the season and the fourth of his career, sparking a big celebration among the nearly 40,000 fans.
“I’m so happy the fans stayed in that kind of game to support us,” Santander said. Ramón Urías added an RBI triple to finish off the five-run rally.
Craig Kimbrel (7-4) pitched the eighth inning, and Seranthony Domínguez got three outs for his fifth save, which was his fourth since joining the Orioles in a July trade with Philadelphia.
Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña hit home runs for Houston, and starter Hunter Brown threw six innings with only three hits allowed. In the end, that didn’t matter much for a team aiming to increase 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.
