Hardy comes through again with RISP (Gonzalez gives up first hit)

HOUSTON - Sometimes, all it takes is a foul ball to the groin to wake up an offense. The Orioles have scored one run or fewer in eight games this season, including last night. They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning tonight after Adam Jones found himself in a world of hurt. Jones took a hard cut at a pitch from Astros starter Brett Oberholtzer and nailed himself in an extremely sensitive area, causing a stoppage in play as assistant athletic trainer Brian Ebel came out of the dugout and manager Buck Showalter tried to hide the grin on his face. Showalter's expression was priceless. Jones must have been providing some commentary while waiting for the pain to subside. Jones bent at the waist several times, tried to walk it off and lined a double into the left field corner. Mad respect up here in the press box. Chris Davis flied out, but Jones raced home on J.J. Hardy's single to left. Hardy still hasn't hit a home run, but his average is up to .300. He's 11-for-28 (.393) with 14 RBIs with runners in scoring position this season. Miguel Gonzalez retired the first eight Astros before walking Jonathan Villar with two outs in the third inning. Jose Altuve grounded out to leave Houston still in search of its first hit. Gonzalez needed only six pitches to get through the opening inning. Nelson Cruz extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff single in the fourth. Update: Gonzalez is working on his fourth consecutive quality start, and he's doing it in style. Gonzalez has allowed two baserunners through five innings, on a walk and hit batter. That's it. He's walked one, struck out one and thrown a wild pitch. Gonzalez has thrown 62 pitches, 39 for strikes. He's allowed six runs in his last four starts over 24 innings. That shot to the groin didn't wake up the offense. It's still 1-0. Update II: Jose Altuve reached on an infield hit with one out in the sixth inning for the Astros first hit of the night. Altuve beat Hardy's throw to first base on an extremely close play. The Orioles didn't challenge the call. Dexter Fowler walked with two outs, but Jason Castro flied to deep center field.