Blanco throws 7 strong innings and McCormick homers twice as Astros beat Orioles 5-1

HOUSTON — Ronel Blanco pitched seven strong innings and Chas McCormick homered twice to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Yordan Alvarez added a two-run shot to help Houston extend its winning streak to four games.

Blanco (8-2), who threw seven hitless innings in his last start, allowed four hits and a run with three strikeouts for his third straight win.

''He keeps doing it,'' manager Joe Espada said. ''I'm not surprised. Whenever we need a big start to pick our team up, he shows up and does what he's been doing all year.''

Alvarez put the Astros on top with his 16th homer, which came off Corbin Burnes (8-3) in the third, and McCormick made it 4-1 in the fifth. McCormick got his fifth career multihomer game when he connected again in the eighth.

The game was a relief for McCormick, who is hitting .225 this season and had just one homer entering Saturday's game.

''I needed a game like today,'' he said. ''It felt good. I've just been working hard and obviously I know I've been struggling, but I hope I can keep this momentum going forward.''

''I think he just wants a couple of pitches back, but besides that he threw the ball great,'' manager Brandon Hyde said.

Jordan Westburg homered in the second for the Orioles, who set a franchise record with 21 straight games with a home run to surpass the 1998 squad's 20-game streak.

Baltimore had troubled stringing hits together Saturday after scoring 28 runs combined in the last two games. The top four batters in their order combined to go 1 for 13 against Blanco and Houston's bullpen.

''He's got a really good changeup and a sneaky fastball that he commands really well,'' Hyde said. ''We just had a tough time getting anything going offensively after the first couple of hitters. We did hit some balls hard, we just didn't find many holes today.''

Ryan Pressly threw a scoreless eighth before Josh Hader struck out two in a perfect ninth to end it.

Yainer Diaz opened Houston's second with a triple on a line drive to right field. The Astros tied it when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón with one out.

McCormick singled with no outs in the third and the shot to center field by Alvarez came with two outs to put Houston on top 3-1.

McCormick's home run to the seats in left field extended the lead to 4-1 with one out in the fifth.

Cedric Mullins tripled off the wall in center with one out in the seventh. Colton Cowser hit a sharp line drive, but was robbed of a hit when shortstop Jeremy Peña made a leaping catch for the second out. Blanco then retired Ramón Urías to end the inning and leave Mullins stranded.

TRAINER'S ROOM

ROSTER MOVES

Astros: RHP Nick Hernandez was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday night. ... LHP Bryan King was selected to the MLB roster and RHP Luis Contreras was recalled from Sugar Land on Saturday. … RHP Alex Speas was designated for assignment.

UP NEXT

Houston LHP Framber Valdez (5-5, 3.91 ERA) opposes RHP Albert Suárez (3-1, 2.05) in the series finale Sunday.

___