The opening batter in each half of the first inning featured impressive feats from Orioles players.

To lead off the game, third baseman Ramón Urías made a diving play at third base to steal an extra-base hit from Houston Astros leadoff hitter José Altuve — the first of several superb plays by starting pitcher Dean Kremer’s defense. To begin the bottom half, Adley Rutschman hit a leadoff home run that narrowly cleared Camden Yards’ rarely conquered left field wall to become just the second left-handed batter to do so since the strange dimensions were put in place last year.

Coming off back-to-back ugly losses, the good start on defense and offense put the Orioles on the right path to beat the defending World Series champion Astros, 5-4, and avoid a sweep for the 76th straight series. The bullpen continued to show cracks, allowing a run in both the eighth and ninth as the Astros cut a three-run lead to one, but closer Félix Bautista got Jon Singleton to pop out with the bases loaded to seal the victory.

Kremer continued his success against Houston with seven innings of two-run ball, and left fielder Ryan O’Hearn, second baseman Adam Frazier and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle aided the right-hander with web gems of their own. Mountcastle remained scorching hot with a two-run home run in the seventh, and so did James McCann with an RBI single in the third and a leadoff double in the sixth before scoring on a single by Rutschman.

In the series’ first two games, the Orioles’ relief corps combined to allow 10 runs, including Tuesday’s loss when Bautista surrendered a go-ahead grand slam to Kyle Tucker. But Yennier Cano worked out of Cionel Pérez’s jam to strand two in the eighth, and while Bautista looked shaky again, he slammed the door for his 31st save of the season.

Baltimore (71-44) hasn’t been swept since May 2022, the fourth-longest streak in MLB history.

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