Kyle Bradish took a perfect game into the sixth inning and came within an out of a complete game as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Houston Astros 2-0 on Thursday night.
Bradish upstaged Houston starter Justin Verlander while nearly turning in Baltimore’s second complete game in as many nights.
Bradish (4-7), a right-hander, struck out 10 without a walk while throwing 100 pitches. Felix Bautista was summoned to record the final out, striking out Aledmys Diaz for his 15th save.
The Astros didn’t have a runner reach base until the sixth when Mauricio Dubon notched a two-out single. The other hit was Jeremy Pena’s two-out single in the ninth.
Houston (99-52) had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the second time in its last 12 games.
The Orioles (78-71) picked up a much-needed win for the second game in a row as it tries to stay in the American League wild-card race.
Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle had two hits apiece and Rougned Odor knocked in both runs for Baltimore.
Verlander (17-4) gave up two runs in six innings, but he was denied in his bid for his 18th victory of the season. It also thwarted any chance that he could reach the 20-win mark this season. He struck out four without a walk while allowing six hits on 93 pitches.
Verlander returned from about a three-week absence to throw five hitless innings last Friday against Oakland. Any notion of a no-hitter vanished quickly Thursday when Mullins led off the bottom of the first with a single.
The Orioles kept going in the second inning, scoring two runs on Odor’s two-out single. Odor had been benched for the previous four games, but was back in the lineup in the No. 8 spot.
The rally began with Mountcastle’s one-out single, followed by Terrin Vavra’s single. Both runners moved up on Kyle Stowers’ groundout. Odor came through for his first multi-RBI outing since Aug. 12.
Meanwhile, Bradish struck out the side in the third to reach six strikeouts through the first three innings.
In the fifth, Mullins doubled with two outs and went to third on a throwing error. But he tried to score on the play and was out at the plate.
Ryne Stanek and Will Smith each pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the Astros.
–Field Level Media
