No catchers, no problems: Orioles overcome absences to sweep Astros with 5-2 win

Jacob Calvin Meyer, The Baltimore Sun on Jul 19, 2026

Published in Baseball

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HOUSTON — The characteristic of the 2026 Baltimore Orioles that separates them from their competition is the catching position.

Baltimore has a powerful catching duo in Major League Baseball with three-time All-Star Adley Rutschman and budding star Samuel Basallo.

But Rutschman was seemingly unavailable Sunday with his health status in question, and Basallo exited the game in the second inning with a shoulder injury, leaving Sam Huff, who was added to the roster 20 minutes before the game, in charge of catching duties.

So, naturally, the Orioles won handily, defeating the Houston Astros, 5-2, for the series sweep and to extend Baltimore’s season-high winning streak to seven. Baltimore is now 49-51 and only 1 1/2 games back of the third and final wild-card spot in the mediocre American League.

Starting pitcher Brandon Young wasn’t shaken by the mid-game catching change, delivering seven innings of one-run ball in the return to the site of his near-perfect game last season. In August, the Lumberton, Texas, native carried a perfect game bid into the eighth inning for the best start of his nascent career — one that showed the upside that he’s achieved this season.

Young’s stellar start Sunday lowered his ERA to a team-best 3.25, and it continued what’s been a strong run from the Orioles’ rotation since late May. Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers and Young combined to allow only four runs in 17 1/3 innings this weekend.

On offense, after two lackluster nights with the bats, the Orioles started to break out thanks to a combination of speed, guile, clutch and power.

After Gunnar Henderson put Baltimore ahead 1-0 in the third, he advanced to third on a perfect hit-and-run with Dylan Beavers, who singled right where the shortstop had been standing. Henderson then scored on a double-steal with Pete Alonso, of all players, as the Polar Bear raced for his second stolen base this weekend after swiping only two bags in the season’s first half.

Leody Taveras, one of the Orioles’ best hitters with runners in scoring position this season, then delivered with a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth, chasing Astros ace Hunter Brown out of the game and putting the Orioles up 4-1.

Coby Mayo then made it a 5-1 game in the sixth when Astros skipper Jose Espada shockingly chose to have a left-handed reliever face the 24-year-old righty slugger. Mayo, who will likely be Baltimore’s main third baseman with Blaze Alexander on the injured list, has been one of the best hitters against left-handed pitching in the major leagues this season with an eye-popping 1.115 OPS and 10 homers in 76 at-bats.

The lone runs Houston scored Sunday were on an RBI double from Yordan Alvarez, the AL’s best hitter, in the third that brought the Astros within one and future Hall of Famer Jose Altuve’s solo homer in the eighth off reliever Rico Garcia. But left-hander Grant Wolfram tossed a scoreless ninth inning for his first career MLB save.

The Orioles went the first 95 games of the season without a winning streak of more than three games. But they won their final four contests of the first half and have now opened the second half with three consecutive victories. They began this weekend half a game back of the Astros in the wild-card race. Now, they’re 2 1/2 games ahead of Houston (47-54).

The only team in baseball hotter than the Orioles right now is the Boston Red Sox (50-48), who won their 13th straight game Sunday to further cement themselves in the AL’s third wild-card spot. So who do the Orioles get to play next?

The Red Sox, of course.

When the Orioles and Red Sox take the field Monday at Fenway Park, they will have a combined winning streak of 20 games. How the three-game series unfolds could go a long way in determining the complexion of the wild-card race ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

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