Jose Altuve homered and had five RBIs as the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 15-8 on Friday night despite allowing four home runs in the first inning.
Altuve became the first Astro to have 20 homers and 20 steals in a season since Carlos Beltran in 2004. George Springer went 4-for-5 with a homer and the Astros also got long balls from Evan Gattis and Teoscar Hernandez in ending a five-game losing streak.
The Orioles became the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to open a game with four home runs before making an out. Adam Jones hit Collin McHugh’s first pitch into the seats in left field and Kim Hyun-soo singled before Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo homered in succession.
Pedro Alvarez added a fifth-inning drive for the Orioles. Baltimore did not have enough firepower in this one to overcome their poor pitching, which surrendered a season-high 15 runs and 18 hits.
Chris Devenski (2-4) allowed one hit in four innings for the Astros after McHugh yielded seven runs and nine hits in three innings. Ubaldo Jimenez (5-10) was the loser.
INDIANS 3, BLUE JAYS 2
Tyler Naquin hit a game-ending inside-the-park homer, sprinting around the bases to cap a two-run rally in the ninth inning as Cleveland stunned Toronto.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead into the ninth in a matchup of AL division leaders. Closer Roberto Osuna (2-2) retired the first batter, but Jose Ramirez tied it with a home run.
Naquin followed with a drive that hit the top of the right-field wall, above the leap of Michael Saunders. The ball caromed away at an angle and center fielder Melvin Upton Jr gave chase as Naquin rounded second base. Upton finally retrieved the ball, but fell down as third base coach Mike Sarbaugh waved Naquin home. Upton flung it toward the infield, and Naquin stumbled home and scored with a headfirst dive way ahead of second baseman Devon Travis’ relay.
Jeff Manship (2-1) pitched the ninth for the win. Osuna blew his third save in 30 chances.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Athletics 9, White Sox 0
‧ Rangers 6, Rays 2
‧ Yankees 7, Angels
‧ Reds 9, Dodgers 2
‧ Cardinals 4, Phillies 3,
11 innings
‧ Marlins 6, Pirates 5
‧ Red Sox 10, Tigers 2
‧ Nationals 7, Braves
‧ Rockies 7, Cubs 6, 11 innings
‧ Giants 8, Mets 1
‧ Mariners 7, Brewers 6
‧ Royals 5, Twins 4, 11 innings
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