Caleb Joseph and Steve Pearce hit two-run homers off Dallas Keuchel as the Baltimore Orioles dealt the left-hander his first loss in a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday.
Keuchel (6-1) came in with a 1.67 ERA and had won three straight starts. He allowed just one home run in nine appearances this season before Joseph connected in the second inning and Pearce went deep in the seventh.
Keuchel gave up six hits, struck out three and walked one over eight innings in his first complete game of the year and seventh of his career.
Photo: AP
George Springer had a season-high three hits and a homer for the Astros, who stranded seven and went one for 11 with runners in scoring position.
By contrast, Baltimore left no one on base and did not bat once with a runner in scoring position.
Brad Brach (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Oliver Drake worked a perfect eighth before Zach Britton got three straight outs for his 11th save.
Keuchel retired 11 straight batters until the seventh, when Delmon Young singled with one out and Pearce drove the next pitch over the wall in right-center to erase a 3-2 deficit.
Orioles starter Chen Wei-yin allowed three runs and 11 hits in five innings. Only once before had the left-hander surrendered more hits in a game, but he kept the damage to a minimum by repeatedly working out of jams.
The Astros squandered several scoring opportunities until the fifth inning, when Chris Carter hit a two-out, opposite-field bloop single to right field that brought in two runs for a 3-2 lead.
Houston got singles from the first two batters in both the first and second innings, but could not score.
Baltimore went up 2-0 in the second when Young singled and Joseph hit a drive that barely cleared the left-field wall, only the second homer allowed by Keuchel in 66 innings.
Springer led off the third with his seventh home run, the first in 33 at-bats.
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