No sweep: Houston offense breaks through late to beat Orioles (updated)

HOUSTON – It seemed improbable that the Orioles' run of great starting pitching could last against one of the best hitting teams in the majors on the road.

But it did.

The Orioles were not scoring runs on their end, however, and the game went into the late innings with a 0-0 score at Houston's Minute Maid Park. This after the Orioles had beaten Houston by 2-0 and 3-1 to take the series' first two games. But the Houston bullpen was doing the job after a surprise early exit by Justin Verlander due to injury.

And then the Astros finally broke through and got the big hit they had been waiting for.

Against a drawn-in infield with runners on second and third and one out in the seventh, first baseman Yuli Gurriel poked a two-run single to right field. That put Houston ahead, and they went on to a 3-1 win to avoid getting swept in the three-game series.

The Orioles (67-60) had won three in a row and five of six. They will win this series but come up short of the sweep, and now head to Cleveland. They saw a five-game win streak in Houston come to an end.

With a Toronto loss today they will remain 1.5 games behind for the final American League wild card spot. 

O’s righty Austin Voth, who was 4-1 with a 2.85 ERA in his first 15 Orioles games, was a standout again today. He followed the strong outings Friday by Kyle Bradish and Saturday night by Dean Kremer.

In the first six innings today, Houston was just 1-for-17 off Voth, and he recorded three 1-2-3 innings and faced just three batters in two other innings. David Hensley’s leadoff double in the Houston third was both his first major league hit and second extra-base hit by Houston batters in this series. But Voth then fanned Mauricio Dubón, and after a walk put a second runner on, he got Jose Altuve to line out and Jeremy Peña to ground out.

He was at 47 pitches through three, 71 through five and 86 through six innings.

O’s manager Brandon Hyde let Voth start the seventh and face the middle of the Houston order. Well, that was the suspected intention until he walked Alex Bregman and was replaced by right-hander Bryan Baker. Kyle Tucker greeted Baker with a double into the right-field corner to put runners on second and third, and then Trey Mancini struck out. But Gurriel, who had been 0-for-9 this series, came through, and Houston had the lead. He hit a first-pitch cutter into right field to snap the scoreless tie. 

The Orioles' anticipated duel with the pitcher considered the frontrunner for the American League Cy Young Award, Verlander, lasted just three innings. He threw 60 pitches and was pulled due to right calf discomfort. He entered this outing at 16-3 with a 1.87 ERA and with an ERA of 1.35 during a run of 10 straight quality starts.

Verlander allowed three hits, walked one and fanned six as the Orioles went 3-for-11 against him but just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Cedric Mullins led off the game with a single and stole second. He then advanced to third on Adley Rutschman’s single, but Verlander fanned the next three hitters in a 28-pitch first inning. The O’s ran themselves out of a rally in the third. With Robinson Chirinos on second and Mullins at first with one out, Anthony Santander’s fly ball to deep center turned into a double play. Both runners tagged, but Chirinos held up while Mullins steamed into second base. The ensuing rundown ended the inning.

In the O’s fifth, with one out, Jorge Mateo lined a ball at 107 mph off the bat to left center. He tried for a triple but was thrown out at third on a two-hop throw from center fielder Dubón, as another chance was missed. A replay review upheld the original out call.

The procession of Astros bullpen pitchers kept the O's in check and showed why Houston's 'pen, at 2.99, has the best ERA in the majors. Seth Martinez, Bryan Abreu, Ryne Stanek, Héctor Neris and Rafael Montero held Baltimore to one run over the final six innings. 

The O's ended the Houston shutout bid with two outs in the ninth on Austin Hays' RBI single, scoring Anthony Santander, who doubled. After a Kyle Stowers pinch single, the O's had two on and two outs, but Rougned Odor fanned on a 3-2 pitch to end the game. 

Voth took a hard-luck loss and is 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA since coming to the Orioles on a waiver claim. He allowed one hit and one run over six innings plus, with three walks and four strikeouts on 94 pitches.

O’s starters for the series went a combined 21 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits. O’s pitching allowed just four runs this entire series against the club that is third in the AL in runs and second in homers.

Houston's Alex Bregman homered off Joey Krehbiel in the eighth for the 3-0 lead to give the Astros their first homer of the series. 

Former Oriole Trey Mancini went 0-for-4 today and was 1-for-10 this series with a walk and five strikeouts. 

The teams combined to score just 10 runs this weekend, the Orioles scoring six runs and Houston four.

Postgame quotes:

Hyde on the offense: “Once again we got a starter’s pitch count way up in the first inning, (then) swing at some bad pitches and really let him off the hook there. Really, didn’t do much against their bullpen. Nice little rally there late, but yeah, just not enough offense today and hopefully we start swinging the bat a little bit better in Cleveland."

Hyde on O's early on against Verlander: “I actually thought we were taking pretty good at-bats off him, first couple of innings. Nice what Ced and Adley doing what they did there in the first inning, and us not cashing in there that really hurt. Like to get a lead into that type of game and didn’t do it. I thought our at-bats were good against him, just didn’t swing the bat against their bullpen. It’s a good bullpen, one of the best in the league for a reason."

Hays on O's pitching and more: “Our starters did an amazing job, saving the bullpen this series and getting into the seventh inning all three games. Austin (Voth) did a great job today. We knew it would be tough with Verlander out there. We had some chances early, we made him work.

“You know, their bullpen pitched us pretty good for the rest of the game. We had a couple opportunities, just needed that big hit. Couldn’t get the big hit tonight.”

Voth on facing Verlander: “I mean, it’s a fun matchup, going against a guy of that caliber. You know, I just have to do my part and go out there and get outs and be efficient and see what happens. But definitely, coming into this game it was cool knowing he’s on the other side and I’m going to be competing against him."

Voth on how starters are a roll now: “It’s been fun. It’s like one guy goes out and it’s competition for the next to continue to keep the line moving and prove that they can do just as good or better. But, those starters right now, I feel like we are all in a good position. We are all pitching well and it’s just fun to watch.”