Miguel Gonzalez pitches the Orioles to victory in Houston series finale

One day after their pitchers allowed six homers and 11 runs, Miguel Gonzalez today restored some pitching order for the Orioles. Gonzalez gave up just one run over six innings, outpitching Houston No. 1 starter Bud Norris, as the Orioles beat the Astros 3-1 at Minute Maid Park. The Orioles take the series, two wins to one, to improve to 7-3 on the year in games that decide a series and 34-26 overall through 60 games. Gonzalez allowed five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches, 66 for strikes and is now 3-2 with an ERA of 4.05 on the year. The Astros went homerless today. He gave the O's their third quality start in the last four games and in those outings, Kevin Gausman, Chris Tillman and today Gonzalez each allowed just one run. Gonzalez has an ERA of 3.28 in four starts since returning from the disabled list. The Orioles are 6-4 when Gonzalez takes the mound this season and 17-8 in his 25 starts as an Oriole. Down 1-0, the O's scored three times in the fourth. Adam Jones snapped a 1-for-14 stretch with an RBI double and later scored on a J.J. Hardy single. Later in the inning, Chris Dickerson scored on a Norris wild pitch. Hardy went 4-for-4 with a double today. He went 8-for-13 in the Houston series with a homer and three RBIs. Over his last five games, Hardy is 11-for-19 (.579) with three homers and five RBIs. The O's bullpen of Darren O'Day, Brian Matusz and Jim Johnson kept Houston off the board over the last three innings. Johnson recorded his fifth save in his last five chances and 20th on the season. With this win, the Orioles are 19-13 on the road and 13-5-2 in series as their road trip now heads to Florida for a weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays.