BASEBALL: Shane Baz earns first win as Oriole, downing Astros

Shane Baz earned his first pitching victory with the Baltimore Orioles, while Pete Alonso delivered a two-run home run in a 5-3 win over the visiting Houston Astros on Tuesday night to open a three-game series.

Baz (1-2), an offseason acquisition who signed a major contract shortly before his Orioles debut, allowed one run on six hits and one walk across 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six batters.

Alonso, also a new addition to the roster, hit his fourth home run of the season with two outs in the fifth inning to extend Baltimore’s lead to 4-1. It marked his second homer in the past two weeks.

Adley Rutschman contributed a pair of run-scoring singles, while Samuel Basallo added two hits and drove in a run with a double as the Orioles snapped a two-game losing streak.

For Houston, Brice Matthews homered as part of a three-hit night from the No. 9 spot in the lineup. He also added an RBI single in the eighth inning as the American League-worst Astros pulled within 5-3. Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz each recorded two hits for Houston, which has dropped eight of its last 11 games.

Despite collecting 11 hits, the Astros went just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and struck out 10 times in those situations. Overall, Houston batters struck out 12 times through the first eight innings.

Astros starter Kai-Wei Teng (1-2), making his first start of the season after 11 relief appearances, allowed two runs over three innings. Ryan Weiss gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings of relief.

Baz, who previously pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays, has now worked at least five innings in all six of his starts this season.

Rico Garcia and Andrew Kittredge followed Baz in relief for Baltimore, before Anthony Nunez allowed two runs in the eighth inning. Ryan Helsley, who had not pitched in a week, closed out the game in the ninth for his seventh save.

— Field Level Media / Reuters