Corbin Burnes, fifteen starts into his Baltimore Orioles tenure, has established a high standard for what his new team should expect from him anytime he hits the field. The ace right-hander’s 16th start may have fallen short of expectations, but the Orioles’ offense went silent, leaving him with only one run of support in a 5-1 defeat to the Houston Astros on Saturday. Burnes, who entered with a 10-game streak of quality starts, received the loss after surrendering a season-high four runs in seven innings. He went deep into the game but was eventually undone by the big ball, allowing a two-run homer to Yordan Alvarez in the third and a single drive to Chas McCormick in the fifth. It was
The Orioles (49-27) did strike first, however. Jordan Westburg, a native of New Braunfels, Texas, took Astros starter Ronel Blanco deep to left field in the second inning for his 12th home run of the season and his first in his home state as a major leaguer. Westburg’s blast extended the Orioles’ run of 21 straight games with at least one home run, setting a franchise record. Houston punched back in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón to drive in Yainer Diaz, who led off the frame with a triple. The Astros tacked on the rest thanks to Alvarez, who became the first hitter to homer off a changeup from Burnes this season, and McCormick, who won a seven-pitch battle in which Burnes threw nothing but cutters.
Baltimore’s offense, which stranded five base runners and finished 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position, never responded. Blanco, who pitched seven hitless innings against the Detroit Tigers in his previous outing Sunday, rebounded from Westburg’s homer by tossing five scoreless frames to finish with one run allowed in seven innings. The Astros’ bullpen was taxed after using five relievers in the opener Friday night, but Ryan Pressly and former Orioles prospect Josh Hader (Old Mill) avoided trouble to keep Baltimore off the board.
The offensive performance was a stark contrast to the production from the Orioles’ lineup the previous two days. They combined to score 28 runs between their 17-5 win in the series final against the New York Yankees on Thursday and their 14-11 loss Friday to the Astros, but MLB’s highest-scoring team was unable to replicate that success and now faces a potential sweep Sunday. Manager Brandon Hyde pulled Burnes after the seventh inning at 90 pitches, handing the game over to reliever Bryan Baker. He faced McCormick to lead off the frame and gave up a homer on his first pitch, an 87.3 mph slider in the bottom half of the strike zone. McCormick’s second long ball of the game – and third of the season – was just out of reach for right fielder Colton Cowser, who was shaken up after appearing to hit his head/neck against the top of the wall. Cowser remained in the game.
