HOUSTON — Pulled in with the rest of the Orioles’ infielders, Rougned Odor dove to his left, Yuli Gurriel’s sharp grounder just out his reach. The same was of the Rafael Montero changeup the Orioles’ second baseman saw while representing the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
Gurriel’s two-run single in Sunday’s seventh inning provided the Houston Astros with their first lead over the Orioles in more than five game’s worth of innings, and it proved enough to deny Baltimore a second straight sweep at Minute Maid Park with a 3-1 victory, with Montero striking out Odor with two runners on for the final out.
The Astros had gone 47 innings without a lead against the Orioles dating to last season, with Baltimore claiming the first two games of the series behind dominant pitching performances from young starters Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer. Sunday, Austin Voth matched them exactly by holding the American League’s best team to one hit through six innings before allowing the leadoff man to reach in the seventh.
