 in the fourth inning.''That first at-bat, obviously, I felt a little bit nervous,'' Alvarez said through a translator. ''But then I started thinking about all the players here and how much advice they've given me and how they made me feel comfortable (and) I felt great.'' Miley (6-3), who pitched into the seventh inning, yielded six hits and struck out five before Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect inning. Hector Rondon struck out two in the eighth before Josh James retired the first two batters in the ninth before walking consecutive batters.After his prolific home run-hitting in the minors, Miley razzed Alvarez a bit about what he expected from the rookie on Sunday.''I told him if he didn't hit three, he'd be a disappointment,'' Miley said.Roberto Osuna retired Rio Ruiz on a grounder for his 17th save.Bundy allowed two earned runs and four hits in six innings.''Dylan pitched outstanding,'' manager Brandon Hyde said. ''He probably could've gone back out for the seventh. He threw the ball really well again and we're really encouraged by his starts the last month, month and a half.'' Hanser Alberto had three hits for the Orioles, who lost for the fourth time in five games.Bundy retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced and Houston didn't get a hit until Yuli Gurriel singled with two outs in the fourth. Alvarez then launched his home run to center field to give the Astros a 2-0 lead.The Astros got things going in the sixth with the help of some miscues by the Orioles. Derek Fisher reached to start the inning on an error by shortstop Richie Martin. Fisher stole second base and advanced to second on an error by catcher Pedro Severino. Houston extended the lead to 3-0 when Fisher scored on a single by Josh Reddick.Renato Nunez singled and Severino walked before a single by Jonathan Villar chased Miley. He was replaced by Pressly, who got a forceout at home on a grounder hit by Anthony Santander for the first out before retiring pinch-hitter Ruiz and Stevie Wilkerson on fly outs to escape the bases-loaded jam.''That's what Pressly has done all year is come in and shut the door down in any inning he's asked,'' Hyde said. ''We had some opportunities, but just didn't come through.'' The Astros tacked on a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Gurriel.TRAINER'S ROOMAstros: SS Carlos Correa, who had previously only spoken about his broken rib on his fiancee's YouTube channel, talked to reporters on Sunday about the massage that he says caused the injury. He said he had felt soreness around his ribs in the days leading up to the massage, but that it wasn't anything that would have kept him from playing. During the massage he said he heard a ''loud crack,'' and his masseuse gasped. ''I was like: `What happened, what's that?''' he said. ''She said: `That's never happened in my 20 years before.' I'm like: `Well, that's not comforting.'' ' He plans to get massages again in the future, but won't get one from the same woman again. Correa is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks.TOUGH ON LEFTIESAll three of Alberto's hits on Sunday came off Miley to increase his major league-leading average against left-handers to .425.UP NEXTOrioles: Baltimore has an off day on Monday before opening a three-game series against Toronto on Tuesday. LHP John Means (5-4, 2.67 ERA) will start the opener after yielding four hits and one run in his last start but not factoring into the decision in a 2-1 loss to Texas.Astros: Houston is also off on Monday before Brad Peacock (5-3, 3.20) will start the opener of a two-game interleague series with Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Peacock allowed four hits and two runs in five innings of a 14-1 loss to Seattle in his last start.--More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Lowly Orioles shoot for series win at AstrosFLMGive the undermanned Baltimore Orioles credit: They are giving one of baseball's best teams quite a fight.What seemed like a weekend series mismatch has been nothing of the sort, and after a win Saturday at Houston's Minute Maid Park the Orioles will go for the unlikely series win on Sunday.After Baltimore built an early 3-0 lead on Friday night only to lose 4-3 in extra innings, the rebuilding Orioles entered with baseball's worst record going against the Astros, the team with the best mark in the majors.But it was the Orioles who pulled away in the late innings for the 4-1 road win, making the Orioles baseball's last team to reach the 20-win mark this season.The Orioles, 0-11-1 in their last 12 series, have dropped the finale in each of their past seven series, a stretch that includes four consecutive losses in rubber matches.Right-hander Dylan Bundy (3-6, 4.64 ERA) will get the ball for Baltimore on Sunday. Bundy is 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA over four career appearances (three starts) against the Astros. He faced Houston twice last season, posting a 3.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts over 12 innings while failing to record a decision.After a rough start to the season, Bundy has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last six starts, going 3-2 with a 3.03 ERA after a brutal first six starts this season (0-4, 6.67 ERA in March and April).Baltimore last won the final game of a series on May 12 against the Los Angeles Angels. The Orioles' last series victory came April 22-24 over the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards. Their last road series win was April 1-3 at Toronto and was part of a four-game road winning streak."Yeah, that'd be great," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of a potential series win. "Listen, we compete. I just like the way our guys go out there and put yesterday behind them. We've got a chance to win a series like we've had a chance to win a series the last four, so we're expecting a good start out of Dylan and hopefully have a chance to win the game." Left-hander Wade Miley (5-3, 3.39 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Astros in their series finale with Baltimore. Miley is 1-2 with a 6.98 ERA over four career starts against the team he pitched for over parts of two seasons (2016-17).He did not factor into the decision in his previous outing, an 11-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on June 4 after he allowed three runs on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts over five innings.Miley has allowed more than three earned runs in a start only once this season, surrendering four over six innings in an 11-4 win at the Detroit Tigers on May 14.--Field Level Media
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