Santander slam sends Orioles to 7-5 win over Astros (updated)

The Orioles were six outs away from losing more ground in the American League East.

Anthony Santander made it shake at Camden Yards.

Santander hit a grand slam off Astros reliever Bryan Abreu in the eighth inning to give the Orioles a thrilling 7-5 win before an announced Gunnar Henderson bobblehead crowd of 39,578.

Santander’s 38^th home run followed singles by Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman and a comebacker from Henderson that enticed Abreu to try for the out at third base.

Cowser was safe, the crowd stayed on its feet and Santander sent it into a frenzy with his fourth career slam and second this year.

“I haven’t seen our team react like that in a long time," said manager Brandon Hyde. "It was just a big exhale it seemed like in our dugout."

Abreu tried to get a 98.5 mph fastball past Santander and failed miserably. The ball was above the zone. Santander was not above making him pay.

"It really was so exciting and the stadium, that was as loud as it’s been this year I think," Hyde said. "It was a great atmosphere and Santander comes through once again at a time when we really have been scuffling. We caught a couple breaks tonight. We haven’t been catching many breaks, either. Just a massive, massive hit for us.

“How many homers has he got now? Thirty-eight homers and not out of August yet. He has been incredibly steady for us. He’s hit a lot of big homers in his career and I think there’s a real slow heartbeat at the plate. Those kind of situations, we have as a club tried to do way too much and try to get the big hit and Tony’s just got a ton of confidence because of his experience and doesn’t let the game get too fast for him. So he’s able to take good at-bats in those kinds of situations.”

"That was a playoff atmosphere," Santander said. "So happy that the fans stayed in that kind of game to support us all the way to the ninth inning. And then, we got a win, that’s the most important and I’m so happy for that."

Austin Slater reached on an infield hit in the eighth, with the ball nailing Abreu, he scored on Ramón Urías’ triple and the Orioles improved to 75-55. They stay 1 ½ games behind the Yankees in the division race.

The Orioles have seven slams in 2024. This one came after they began the inning with only three hits and were down 5-2.

"We’ve been struggling a little bit the last couple weeks, and that’s a big key right there," said Santander, who received a Gatorade bath from Cowser. "That is a reminder of who we are as a team. We always stay focused the whole game, we compete for 27 outs. Cowser and Adley did a really good job right there getting on base in the inning, they set it up. That’s a great win right there."

Santander's slam was the first by an Oriole with the team trailing by exactly three runs in the eighth inning or later since Luke Scott on May 13, 2010. It was the first go-ahead slam in the eighth or later since Pedro Alvarez on April 6, 2018 at Yankee Stadium.

"I was looking fastball," Santander said. "That’s a guy who throws 99 mph and they’ve been throwing me up and in the whole game. I just said, ‘This is a guy who throws a lot of sliders, too, but I’m going to stay with the fastball right here.’ Even the one that I took on 2-0, I was automatically taking right there. 2-0, bases loaded, no outs, you don’t want to be too aggressive in that situation. I was a little bit aggressive on 2-1, looking for that fastball up."

Cade Povich warmed again tonight to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” though the crowd didn’t join in like the first time. The rookie left-hander didn’t start the fire, but he almost scorched the grass with his high-speed sprint from dugout to mound after the bottom of the first inning.

Povich held the ball as Henderson was handing over protective equipment to first base coach Anthony Sanders after flying out to deep center field. Teammates eventually got back onto the field. They couldn’t keep up with the kid.

The top of the first lasted only five pitches, also a blur, but Povich surrendered four runs in the third. The pace had slowed considerably. The chances at a win were dying with the offense in shutdown mode.

Jeremy Peña hit a 418-foot home run over the left field wall leading off the sixth. The patient barely had a pulse.

Cowser hit his 19^th homer in the bottom of third to lead major league rookies and interrupt his 5-for-27 streak over the last eight games, but the Orioles lost center fielder Cedric Mullins to tightness in his left quadriceps.

Mullins raced into right-center field with two outs in the second inning to snag Mauricio Dubón’s fly ball before crashing to the ground. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn raised his cap to salute Mullins, who saved a run. But he was replaced after the bottom of the fourth.

Ryan Mountcastle already was missing from the lineup with a sore wrist. The Orioles needed to replace their luck, the vibe and anything else that held them back. Turn the lights back on.

Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Daniel Johnson, who has 20 home runs and 70 RBIs, was removed from tonight’s game after two at-bats. Perhaps his exit was tied to Mullins’ quad.

"I’m hoping it’s just day-to-day," Hyde said. "That was an incredible catch there. I don’t know if he did it on that play or not, but that saved a run, also."

Povich went five-plus innings, leaving with the Astros ahead 5-2 after Jake Meyers doubled and Shay Whitcomb walked. Burch Smith did a nice job containing the damage by fielding a sacrifice bunt, getting a ground ball to O’Hearn that became an out at home plate and inducing a fly ball to right.

This wasn’t the follow-up to Povich’s last outing that pitcher and team wanted and needed. And they get Framber Valdez Saturday afternoon.

Jose Altuve amplified the usual booing with a two-run homer in the third, when the Astros sent eight batters to the plate and got Povich’s pitch count up to 50. Povich, in his 10^th major league start, retired the side in order on 12 pitches in the fourth and started a double play in a 10-pitch fifth after Altuve’s infield hit.

"Still a lot of positives from what I’ve been working on going into it," Povich said. "A couple pitches, I think, that just kind of went the other way and then a couple of it was just on the side of  being in the zone ball, but not necessarily executing it the way I might have wanted to.

"I think confidence is a big part of everything as a whole, especially when it comes to pitching. Letting my stuff play in the zone was one thing that I needed to be more confident in and was what I tried working on and I think it's continued to carry over and now just onto the next step of executing pitches a little bit better. But just continuing to build off each one.”

Peña clobbered a 93-mph fastball, the ball leaving his bat at 109.5 mph.

“He had that one bad inning, unfortunately,” Hyde said. “He left some balls kind of thigh high. Two really good innings to start, then a two-out rally against him, but then I thought he settled down. He pitched good in the fourth and the fifth. He’s got really good stuff. I like Cade a lot. I think Cade’s got a chance to be a really good starter in this league. I think he’s pitching with confidence. That’s a tough team to pitch against and just one inning, he’s a little bit off.”

The Orioles hadn’t scored in the last 11 innings before taking a 1-0 lead in the second. It was unearned against Hunter Brown, but nobody cared.

Santander led off with a bloop single into right field and Mullins walked with one out. Urías grounded to Peña, who threw wide of second base. Runners stood on the corners, but Jackson Holliday and James McCann struck out with Urías’ first stolen base of the season nestled in between. A potential outburst was contained.

Holliday went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is hitless in his last 20 at-bats.

The lead was lost in the next inning. Zach Dezenzo singled and Altuve homered to right field. Three straight batters reached with two outs. Yanier Diaz singled and scored on Peña’s 109.2 mph double, and Peña scored on Meyers’ single.

O’Hearn singled with two outs in the sixth inning for the Orioles’ third hit, matching their totals on Sunday, Wednesday and last night.

Brown allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits in six innings and threw a career-high 107 pitches.

Craig Kimbrel tossed a scoreless eighth with two hits and two strikeouts, and he earned the win. Seranthony Domínguez recorded his fourth save with the Orioles, retiring the side in order after allowing two walk-off home runs at Citi Field. A maligned bullpen had four shutout innings, with Smith retiring all six batters he faced.

"Framber Valdez is really good, it’s all about the next day, but this one feels good tonight because it's been rough, it's been hard," Hyde said. "Really happy with our bullpen tonight. Burch Smith coming in at that spot. Those are the innings that we’ve struggled in, honestly, to keep the score. That’s what we were really good at the last couple of years, keeping the score there for us to have the ability to come back, and Burch did that. And Craig got through his inning to allow us to get that rally there and win the game.”

Perhaps it can propel the Orioles to the heights they reached in the first half.

"It’s a tough game," Santander said. "There is a lot of up and down. But we showed right there who we are, and hopefully we can continue to do that for the rest of the season."

* Coby Mayo had a two-run triple at Norfolk. Carlos Tavera allowed one run in five innings.

Worcester started 44-year-old Rich Hill, who tossed two scoreless and hitless innings.

Patrick Reilly, acquired from the Pirates for outfielder Billy Cook, allowed three runs and four hits with three walks and three strikeouts for Double-A Bowie.

Single-A Delmarva’s Yeiber Cartaya allowed one hit in four scoreless innings.