Ronel Blanco leads Houston Astros to defeat Baltimore Orioles

Two of the best pitchers in the American League through the first half of this season met Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Baltimore traded for Corbin Burnes in February to become the ace of a team eyeing October. Injuries pushed Ronel Blanco into the Astros rotation, an outcome that continues to prove fortuitous.

Blanco continued his remarkable first half by outplaying Burnes, firing seven one-run innings against an Orioles offense that woke up leading the majors in runs scored and OPS. His outing lifted Houston to a 5-1 victory and secured a series victory over Baltimore, owners of the AL’s second-best record.

The Astros are 37-40. Blanco, the 30-year-old who entered this season with seven major league starts, has started 11 of his wins. Nine of his 14 outings have been quality starts. Blanco lowered his ERA to 2.34. As of Saturday afternoon, it was the second-lowest among qualified AL starters.

Blanco entered the day fourth in this category. Burnes was tied for first with 2.14 with Tanner Houck of the Red Sox. Blanco had held opponents to a .161 batting average, the lowest of any qualified AL starter. Burnes ranked eighth, holding hitters to a .205 average.

Houston put up four runs against Burnes in seven innings, benefiting from big swings. Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the third. Chas McCormick hit a solo home run in the fifth. McCormick added a second homer, leading off the eighth inning against reliever Bryan Baker.

A second-half home run by Jordan Westburg was the only damage against Blanco. Her exit reflected many before her. Blanco mixed his fastball, changeup and slider to avoid hard contact from a lineup built to create it. He allowed four hits. Baltimore averaged an exit velocity of 88.7 mph on 20 balls in play.

Blanco worked seven hitless innings in his previous start against Detroit. He walked his first two batters Saturday. The selection of leader Gunnar Henderson helped stifle a potential rally. Blanco extended his hitless streak to 31 batters before Westburg hit an infield fastball for his homer.

The Orioles managed only two more hits until the seventh. Cedric Mullins’ one-out triple activated the Houston bullpen, as Ryan Pressly began to warm up. Blanco delayed his entry. Colton Cowser sent a liner up the middle. Well-placed shortstop Jeremy Peña made a leaping catch. Ramón Urías flew away.

Blanco wrote his seven innings on 98 pitches. He walked three and struck out four. Pressly pitched a perfect eighth against the top of the Orioles order. Josh Hader pitched ninth and has a 1.80 ERA with 30 strikeouts over his last 20 innings.

Burnes, the right-hander, has notable reverse splits this season. Right-handed hitters had a .673 OPS against him Saturday and lefties had a .423 OPS. For this reason, Astros manager Joe Espada loaded his lineup with right-handed bats, starting only two lefties in Alvarez and Joey Loperfido.

Alvarez, in his second at-bat, took a low changeup off Burnes about 420 feet over the left-center wall for a two-run homer. Burnes had allowed just one home run and four extra-base hits against left-handed hitters before Alvarez’s swing.

It was the first home run allowed by Burnes against his changeup all season. The batters were 2 for 31 against the field, with two singles, before Alvarez came to bat. Alvarez has hit two of three homers since a two-game absence due to a personnel matter. He has seven homers in 17 games in June.

Given Burnes’ splits, McCormick got a start against the right-hander, which became less common amid McCormick’s first-half struggles. McCormick responded with two hits against Burnes. He singled to open the third inning, scoring on Alvarez’s homer, and hit a solo homer in the fifth.

McCormick thought he walked on a close 3-1 pitch and called a timeout as he returned to the batter’s box. He fouled a 97 mph cutter and Burnes followed with a cutter that stayed put. McCormick crashed it 414 feet above the Crawford Boxes.

At 110.2 mph off the tee, it was the hardest hit ball in play of McCormick’s career, according to Baseball Savant. The home run was only the second this season for McCormick, who hit 22 last season.

He hit his third three innings later, sending a first-pitch slider from Baker over the right-field wall. A three-hit game was the first this season for McCormick. He entered the game with a 7-for-45 funk since returning from a stint on the IL with a hamstring ailment.