Valdez’s strong start helps Astros win 8-1 to complete 3-game sweep of Orioles

HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Jeremy Peña and Yainer Diaz had three RBIs each to give the Houston Astros an 8-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and complete a three-game sweep.

“That’s Astros baseball right there,” manager Joe Espada said. “That’s what we expect from our team. … We did so many things so well. It was a series we needed as a club.

This is only the second time the Orioles have been swept this season after losing three straight to the Cardinals from May 20-22.

Valdez (6-5) allowed six hits and one run with seven strikeouts in seven innings to bounce back from back-to-back losses.

He said sweeping a team like the Orioles was important for the Astros, who are trying to bounce back after a rough start to the season.

“It feels good,” Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. “It’s just a good sign that we’re doing well, we’re improving and … we’re getting to where we want to be, which is No. 1.”

Jose Altuve hit a leadoff homer as the Astros jumped on Albert Suárez (3-2) for four runs in the first. Alex Bregman had four hits for Houston, extending its winning streak to five games.

“They’re a great ball club and they have a great pitching staff,” Bregman said. “But we batted really well today and throughout the series and we were very proud of the effort and preparation of the guys and we need to continue that momentum.”

Jordan Westburg homered for a second straight game to extend Baltimore’s record home run streak to 22. But the Orioles couldn’t do much else offensively as they only managed one only point for a second consecutive match.

“We just have to get this one out of the way,” manager Brandon Hyde said of the series. “Not much went well. We have to let this one go.

Suárez allowed a career-high 10 hits and tied a career-high with five runs in five innings.

“There were a couple balls right in the middle of the plate early in the count that they were really aggressive on and did some damage to him early on,” Hyde said. “I thought he did a decent job after that, but they clashed during that round.”

Bryan King struck out one in a scoreless eighth for Houston in his major league debut and Luis Contreras allowed a hit in his debut in the ninth.

Altuve sent Suárez’s first pitch out of the park for his 38th career home run to make it 1-0. Bregman doubled and scored on a one-out single by Diaz.

Peña doubled to drive in Diaz and extend the lead to 3-0. Mauricio Dubón made it 4-0 with his RBI single on a line drive to center field.

Cesar Salazar singled to open Houston’s fourth game before a one-out double by Bregman. The Orioles intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to load the bases and a sacrifice by Diaz left Houston leading 5-0.

Colton Cowser singled with one out in the fifth, but was erased when Adley Rutschman grounded out on a force out. Ryan Mountcastle singled after that, but Anthony Santander also had a force out to end the inning.

Westburg’s home run came with one out in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-1.

Bregman singled with one out in the sixth and Diaz’s single came with two outs in the inning. They both scored when Peña hit a double to left-center field to make it 7-1.

Altuve and Bregman hit back-to-back singles to start the eighth and Altuve scored on a Diaz sacrifice fly with two outs to extend the lead to 8-1.

FOLLOWING

Orioles: LHP Cade Povich (0-1, 3.94 ERA) starts for Baltimore in the first game of a three-game series with Cleveland on Monday night.

Astros: Houston is off Monday before starting a two-game series with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

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