BALTIMORE — Anthony Santander hit a grand slam off Bryan Abreu in the eighth inning, carrying the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-5 comeback victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Baltimore managed only three hits and trailed 5-2 before rallying to end Houston’s nine-game road winning streak. Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman singled before Abreu (2-2) snagged a comebacker but was late trying to get Cowser leaning off third base, loading the bases.
Santander then ripped a 2-1 fastball over the right-field wall for his 38th home run of the season. It was his second slam this season and the fourth of his career.
Ramón Urías tacked on an RBI triple to cap the five-run outburst.
Craig Kimbrel (6-5) worked the eighth and Seranthony Domínguez got three outs for his fourth save since coming to Baltimore in a July trade with Philadelphia and fifth overall.
Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered for Houston, and starter Hunter Brown pitched six innings of three-hit ball.
But all that was undone when Santander went deep in the eighth, saving Baltimore from what would have been its sixth loss in eight games.
The Astros were 10 games out of first place on June 18. Now they’re securely atop the AL West, but manager Joe Espada knows things can change in a hurry. “It feels good to be in this spot, but we’re not spiking the football,” the manager said. “There’s a lot of baseball left.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: Yordan Alvarez (.306, 25 HRs, 67 RBIs) was a late scratch with neck stiffness. He was replaced at DH by Alex Bregman, who was initially pencilled in at 3B — his first game in the field since Aug. 14. Bregman has been nursing an elbow injury, which caused him to miss five games and could result in a move to 1B in the near future. “It’s going to be a fluid situation,” manager Joe Espada said.
Orioles: CF Cedric Mullins left in the fifth inning with left quad tightness. … 1B Ryan Mountcastle wasn’t in the lineup after hurting his wrist while running the bases on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Houston lefty Framber Valdez (13-5, 3.20 ERA) looks to win his sixth straight start Saturday and improve to 9-0 since June 18. Albert Suárez (6-4, 3.18), who’s had three straight scoreless outings, starts for Baltimore.
