Late rally falls short as Houston gets series opener (quotes added)

Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez was a pitch away from a scoreless first inning tonight. If he gets that pitch, maybe his night would have been different.

Ultimately he was unable to make that pitch and Houston scored three off him in the first and two more in the second on its way to an 8-7 win at Oriole Park tonight. But the Astros needed to hold off a furious rally in the ninth by the Orioles to wrap this one up.

Down 8-2 heading to the last of the ninth, the Orioles pulled within a run. Adam Jones made it 8-4 with a two-run double to left off reliever James Hoyt and Manny Machado singled as Jones advanced to third.

Right-hander Chris Devenski came on. Jonathan Schoop hit his first pitch over the right-field wall for a three-run homer that closed the gap to 8-7. Schoop had a four-RBI night and that gave the Orioles a five-run inning. But the furious rally ended there. Chris Davis bunted into an out back to the mound and Ken Giles came on. He got Mark Trumbo swinging to end it for his 21st save.

The late rally came up one run short.

The Orioles (46-50) win streak ends at four. Houston (64-32) improves to 34-11 in road games. The Astros, who have easily the best record in the American League, have won seven in a row and 10 of their past 11 games against the Orioles.

After a one-out walk and a steal of second to start the game, Jose Altuve was halfway home with two outs in the top of the first. But a first-pitch single by Carlos Beltrán made it 1-0 and kept the inning alive. Then on the 1-1 pitch to Yuli Gurriel he hit a two-run homer to center for a 3-0 lead. Gurriel hit No. 12 off a slider and went on to have a career-high four hits.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the second. Colin Moran tripled to right to score one run and scored on Altuve's grounder for the 5-0 lead. Right fielder Joey Rickard dove for Moran's liner, but it went past him for a three-base hit.

Houston starter Mike Fiers entered this game with an ERA of 2.44 since June 1 and pitched another strong game. Over seven innings he gave up six hits and one run. He improved to 7-4 with an ERA of 3.59 after his 105-pitch night.

The O's pushed one across against him in the third on Schoop's bloop two-out single to right. It followed singles earlier in that inning by Rubén Tejada and Rickard.

Jiménez went 5 1/3 innings and permitted 10 hits and six runs over 97 pitches. He is 4-6 with an ERA of 7.19. Since he pitched eight shutout innings June 29 at Toronto, his ERA is 9.95. O's starters have an 8.04 ERA since the All-Star break.

Houston made it 7-1 in sixth when Brian McCann homered off Jiménez and Josh Reddick singled in a run off Richard Bleier. McCann hit his 12th homer of the year. It was his 244th as a catcher and that ranks ninth on all-time homers list by catchers. Moran's first big league homer, a solo shot in the eighth, made it an 8-1 game. Mark Trumbo's RBI single in the eighth made it 8-2.

When these teams play again tomorrow night, right-hander Chris Tillman (1-5, 7.20 ERA) faces right-hander Collin McHugh, who will be making his season debut.

Postgame quotes

Davis on the bunt in the ninth: "Honestly after the first couple of pitches I just felt like I wasn't really seeing the ball well. I saw him move over and I went for it. If I can get it down over there and keep it fair, I've got a chance and then we have a chance to win the game. I know it is easy to sit back and say, 'Well, you just could have hit a home run.' But, you know lately, it's been pretty much feast or famine. I thought it was an aggressive move, obviously and I felt like that was my best shot in that at-bat."

Davis on the comeback in the ninth: "We don't ever roll over and it's not who we are. To even give ourselves a chance to win that game. Schoopy coming through with a huge hit but the guys above him (also came through). I was real impressed with (Hyun Soo) Kim's at-bat. For a guy that hasn't had very many at-bats to put one together like that, it was fun to watch. We get another chance tomorrow."

Trumbo on impressive homer by Schoop in ninth: "He is having a fantastic year. We are all really happy for him. He works extremely hard and it's really starting to pay off. He's coming into his own and looks like a star out there."

Jiménez on not getting out of the first with a zero: "I think the pitch (to Gurriel) wasn't a bad pitch at all, but he dove and put I guess a good swing. Even with that I thought it was a fly ball. But we have to keep everything on the ground right now because the ball is carrying well."

Jiménez on struggles since Toronto start: "I guess I'm leaving a couple of pitches up and they are making me pay for it. I'm not getting any breaks. Even when they hit it soft, they find a hole. It is difficult to put the team in a bad position. But, I mean, you just have to worry about going out there and trying to get deep into games to save the bullpen. I'm in a spot now where they hit it soft and they find a hole. They hit it hard and it's going to be out of the park."