Ronel Blanco pitched well for seven innings, and Chas McCormick hit two home runs to help the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Saturday.
Yordan Alvarez also hit a two-run homer, extending Houston’s winning streak to four games. Blanco, who didn’t allow a hit in his previous start, gave up four hits and one run while striking out three. He has now won three consecutive games.
Manager Joe Espada praised Blanco’s consistent performance, saying, “He keeps doing it. I’m not surprised. Whenever we need a big start to pick our team up, he shows up and does what he’s been doing all year.”
Alvarez put the Astros in the lead with his 16th home run in the third inning off Corbin Burnes (8-3). McCormick added to the lead with a homer in the fifth inning to make it 4-1. McCormick completed his fifth career multi-homer game with another home run in the eighth inning.
McCormick, who has struggled with a .225 batting average this season and had only one home run before Saturday’s game, expressed relief and satisfaction with his performance: “I needed a game like today. It felt good. I’ve just been working hard and obviously I know I’ve been struggling, but I hope I can keep this momentum going forward.”
Burnes allowed five hits, including a season-high two home runs and four runs in seven innings, ending his streak of 10 consecutive quality starts. He had been 5-0 in his last seven starts since May 7.
Manager Brandon Hyde acknowledged Burnes’ solid performance despite the loss: “I think he just wants a couple of pitches back, but besides that he threw the ball great.”
Jordan Westburg homered for the Orioles in the second inning, setting a franchise record with their 21st consecutive game with a home run, surpassing the 1998 team’s record of 20 games.
After scoring a combined 28 runs in their last two games, the Orioles struggled to generate offense against Blanco and the Astros’ bullpen. The top four batters in their lineup went 1 for 13.
Hyde commented on Blanco’s pitching, noting, “He’s got a really good changeup and a sneaky fastball that he commands really well. We just had a tough time getting anything going offensively after the first couple of hitters. We did hit some balls hard, we just didn’t find many holes today.”
