Astros look like themselves in final sweep of Orioles

HOUSTON — On Friday, before the Orioles opened a three-game series against the Astros, manager Brandon Hyde looked out on the field and assessed how his brother-in-law Joe Espada’s team had performed this year.

“They’re a playoff team,” Hyde said. “It’s a really, really dangerous formation. They bat extremely well, especially here at home.

He knew, before facing them, that the Astros were a better team than their 35-40 record. The Astros reaffirmed that point all weekend, winning all three games, including 8-1 on Sunday, to become only the second team since May 15, 2022 to sweep the Orioles.

The other sweep came this season, when the Cardinals won all three games in St. Louis from May 20-22. The Orioles have won five straight games and hadn’t lost another series before this weekend. They’ll see if they can replicate that starting Monday, when the Guardians come to Baltimore.

“We just need to empty this one,” Hyde said. “Not much went well. We have a really good Cleveland team coming to town. We need to drop this one and continue it tomorrow.

All three Orioles starters in Houston either gave up a record number of earned runs or tied it — Grayson Rodriguez on Friday with seven, Corbin Burnes on Saturday with four and Albert Suárez on Sunday with five. Add in Cole Irvin and Cade Povich, who allowed five earned runs in their last starts, and the Orioles rotation has a 7.52 ERA their last time in the order, dating back to Wednesday, which was also the day where Kyle Bradish had Tommy. John reconstructive surgery.

A wrong turn is not a reason for an overhaul. However, it has been two difficult starts in a row for Suárez. He allowed three earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings against the Yankees. Sunday, against the Astros, he allowed four before recording two outs in the first inning. Jose Altuve hit the first pitch of the game for a home run, and the Astros had six total hits in the first. Suárez fares better in the second and third, but drops one more in the fifth to complete his day.

“The plan was to attack the area,” Suárez said. “This team is aggressive; they were swinging. I stuck to my plan of attack. This first round, they took advantage of it.

Dillon Tate, who allowed three runs in Friday’s sixth-inning collapse, allowed two on Sunday.

There isn’t much shelter available, but Dean Kremer, out for more than a month with a right triceps strain, had his second rehab Saturday with Triple-A Norfolk. However, he managed less than one inning, throwing 39 pitches while allowing five runs in two-thirds of an inning. The team did not say whether Kremer would need another start in rehab.

“We need him back as soon as possible,” Hyde said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do with that but, only 30 pitches, it’s not ideal.”

The offense, for the second day in a row, did nothing against the Astros starter, despite a lineup change. Hyde put Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander at the top of the leaderboard, but that didn’t make much difference. Baltimore scored just one run against Framber Valdez – a solo home run by Jordan Westburg, who for the second straight day was responsible for the Orioles’ only score.

“I think you just tip your cap to them,” Mountcastle said. “They had a great series. It was difficult to get things done. We are excited to return home and get back on track.