Blanco pitches 7 solid innings and McCormick hits two home runs as Astros beat Orioles 5-1

HOUSTON (AP) — Ronel Blanco pitched seven solid innings and Chas McCormick hit two homers to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Yordan Alvarez added a two-pointer to help Houston extend its winning streak to four games.

Blanco (8-2), who pitched seven hitless innings in his last start, allowed four hits and one run with three strikeouts for his third straight victory.

“He keeps doing it,” manager Joe Espada said. “I’m not surprised. Every time we need a jump start to get our team going, he comes out and does what he’s done all year.

Alvarez put the Astros ahead with his 16th homer, off Corbin Burnes (8-3) in the third, and McCormick made it 4-1 in the fifth. McCormick got his fifth career multihomer when he connected again in the eighth.

The game was a relief for McCormick, who is hitting .225 this season and had just one home run heading into Saturday’s game.

“I needed a match like today,” he said. “It felt good. I’ve been working hard and obviously I know I’ve been struggling, but I hope I can keep the momentum going.

Burnes allowed five hits, including a season-high two homers, and a season-high four runs in seven innings to end his career-best streak of 10 consecutive quality starts. He was 5-0 in seven starts since losing at Washington on May 7.

“I think he just wants some throws back, but other than that he’s thrown the ball really well,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Jordan Westburg homered in the second for the Orioles, who set a franchise record with 21 consecutive games with a home run to surpass the 1998 team’s streak of 20 consecutive games.

Baltimore struggled to string together hits Saturday after scoring a combined 28 runs in the last two games. The top four hitters in their order combined to go 1 for 13 against Blanco and the Houston bullpen.

“He has a really good changeup and a shifty fastball that he handles really well,” Hyde said. “We just had a hard time getting things going offensively after the first two batters. We hit some balls hard, but we just didn’t find a lot of holes today.

Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless eighth before Josh Hader struck out two in a perfect ninth to end it.

Westburg connected with Blanco with a takedown in the second to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

Yainer Diaz opened Houston’s second score with a line drive triple to right field. The Astros tied it when he scored on a Mauricio Dubón sacrifice fly with one out.

McCormick singled with no outs in the third and Alvarez’s shot to center field came with two outs to put Houston up 3-1.

McCormick’s home run to the left field seats extended the lead to 4-1 with one out in the fifth.

Cedric Mullins tripled to the wall in center with one out in the seventh. Colton Cowser hit a free throw, but was robbed of a hit when shortstop Jeremy Peña made a jumper for the second out. Blanco then struck out Ramón Urías to end the inning and leave Mullins stranded.

TRAINERS ROOM

Astros: RHP Jake Bloss, who made his major league debut Friday night, was placed on injured reserve because of right shoulder discomfort.

LIST MOVES

Astros: RHP Nick Hernandez was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land Friday night. … LHP Bryan King was selected to the MLB roster and RHP Luis Contreras was recalled from Sugar Land on Saturday. …RHP Alex Speas has been designated for assignment.

FOLLOWING

Houston LHP Framber Valdez (5-5, 3.91 ERA) faces RHP Albert Suárez (3-1, 2.05) in the series finale on Sunday.

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