Anthony Santander drilled an eighth-inning grand slam to give the Baltimore Orioles a 7-5 comeback victory against the visiting Houston Astros on Friday night.
The first three Orioles batters in the inning reached base before Santander’s team-leading 38th home run of the season gave Baltimore its third victory in the past eight games.
Colton Cowser homered earlier for the Orioles, who tacked on an eighth-inning insurance run on Ramon Urias’ RBI triple.
Jose Altuve hit a two-run home run and Jeremy Pena smacked a solo shot for the Astros, who lost for the fourth time in their past 16 games.
Santander’s homer came off reliever Bryan Abreu (2-2), who managed to record only one out while giving up five runs. It was Santander’s second homer in a four-game stretch.
The comeback erased Hunter Brown’s hopes for a win. He worked six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) and three hits while striking out six and walking two.
Craig Kimbel (7-4), who pitched a scoreless eighth, was the winning pitcher despite giving up two hits but striking out two. Seranthony Dominguez, who gave up a ninth-inning home run in a road loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday, worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Orioles starter Cade Povich, who lost each of his previous four starts, gave up five runs and five hits in five innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
Cowser and Santander each finished with two hits for the Orioles. Altuve, Pena and Jake Meyers all had two hits.
Altuve’s homer — his 17th of the season – in the third inning put the Astros up 2-1. Pena’s double and Meyers’ single later in the inning made it 4-1.
Cowser hit his 19th homer of the season in the third, but Pena’s 13th home run in the sixth restored the three-run margin.
–Field Level Media
