The Baltimore Orioles avoided a series sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros (72-59) with a 3-2 win on Sunday. It was a much needed win as the Birds are set to play a four game series with the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
It was the stalwart pitcher of the ’25 rotation, Trevor Rogers (7-2), who kept the Astros in check. Rogers limited the team that had scored 26 total runs over the previous three game to just one run. All Houston could do against Rogers was piece together a lead-off walk, a steal of second base and a single into a run in the third inning.
Rogers was not as sharp on Sunday as he may have been in past starts but he pitched well enough to produce a quality start, his 11th in 13 starts. Pitching clean innings in the second and seventh and facing the minimum thanks to a double play in the sixth, Rogers gave the Orioles a 7.0 inning effort, allowing the lone run on 5 hits with 3 walks and a career high 9 strikeouts. He did commit a balk in the third inning when he disengaged from the pitching rubber three times during a Jose Altuve at-bat. With the win, Rogers moves in third place in wins behind Tomoyuki Sugano (10) and Dean Kremer (9).
Gunnar set the tone
Baltimore took an immediate lead when Gunnar Henderson hit his 16th homerun, a 392 ft. shot to the right field flag court in the bottom of the first.
Top Gunn
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— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 24, 2025
Henderson singled, stole both second and third bases and scored on a Ryan Mountcastle RBI single in the sixth inning to end the day 2 for 4 with a HR, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 2 SB.
Two-out ribbie
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— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 24, 2025
Mountcastle finished his day by going 2 for 4 with a RBI.
Henderson is the current team leader in hits, homeruns, runs scored, RBI, batting average and OPS; not too shabby for a player who started the season on the IL due to a right intercostal strain.
Jackson says “I’ll Be There”
Jeremiah Jackson, who singled in the eighth inning, has now recorded a hit in all four games of the homestand and in nine of his last ten to raise his batting average to .333
Another player hits his first MLB homerun
Second baseman Luis Vazquez hit what proved to be a much needed insurance run with his first Orioles homerun in the seventh inning, a 416 ft. blast to the Orioles bullpen in center field.
The Vazquez homerun proved pivotal when Rico Garcia loaded the bases with one out in the eighth before being relieved by Keegan Akin. Akin did allow one inherited runner, Carlos Correa, to score on a sacrifice fly before retiring Mauricio Dubon to end the threat and the inning.
Akin earned his 3rd save of the season after striking out the side in the ninth.
2025 Record: 60-70
Next Game: Mon. 8/25 @ 6:35 pm vs. Boston Red Sox