B2B homers, wild catch help Astros take finale vs. O's

BALTIMORE -- After losing their previous two games on big swings late with the bases loaded, the Astros were content to escape Camden Yards with a four-game split, which they capped with a 6-3 win over the Orioles on Sunday night.

Alex Bregman and Yainer Diaz clubbed home runs to left field on consecutive pitches with two outs in the seventh inning, and Houston improved to 5-0 in games started by Yusei Kikuchi, who carried a no-hitter into the fifth and wound up throwing 5 2/3 innings. The bullpen rebounded to throw 3 1/3 hitless innings, with Josh Hader converting his 28th consecutive save opportunity to finish the two-hitter.

The Astros reached 70 wins (70-60) and maintained a 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place Mariners in the American League West race ahead of a three-game series at the Phillies that begins Monday.

“It was a big win for us,” Bregman said. “They’ve got a great ballclub over there. I thought we played well all series long, to be honest. Just a few pitches didn’t go our way out there, and they capitalized on them. Overall, I thought it was a good end-of-the-series win.”

Here are three key moments from Sunday’s victory.

Bregman, Diaz break the tie
Bregman snapped a 3-3 tie when he sailed a curveball from reliever Burch Smith a Statcast-projected 397 feet over the left-field wall for his 21st homer of the season. He had barely gotten to the dugout when Diaz crushed a sweeper and launched it 455 feet to left for his 16th homer. The ball came off the bat at 111.4 mph, which is tied for the hardest-hit ball of Diaz’s career.

Earlier in the game, Bregman flied out to left field on a ball that would have been a home run in 23 of 30 parks, including Minute Maid Park. He left no doubts in the seventh and bashed his sixth homer in his past 10 games.

“Tough park to hit at,” Bregman said. “I thought I could have definitely had two [homers] today. I felt good. The swing felt the best it’s felt since coming back [from missing five games with elbow inflammation]. Obviously, missing some time, you lose a little bit of the rhythm you have, but today was a step in the right direction of feeling what I want to feel at the plate.”

Dubón’s spectacular catch
Mauricio Dubón, who won a Gold Glove last year as a utility player, made one of the best catches of the season in the seventh, but he paid a price. Dubón ran 130 feet into the left-field corner to catch a Ramón Urías fly ball, reeling it in just before he crashed into the wall at full speed.

Dubón had the wind knocked out of him and banged up his shoulder and ribs, but he said he’ll be fine. He was removed from the game in the eighth for pinch-hitter Jake Meyers, who lifted a sac fly to right field to make it 6-3.

“I saw the ball, and I know this is a big ballgame,” Dubón said. “It kept going, and [I] kept running. There was a point I felt if I would have slid, I wouldn’t have been able to catch it. I have to keep going, and as soon as I caught it, I tried to brace myself a little bit. I was running full speed. I’ve seen guys hit their shoulders and everything. I got kind of scared and locked up a little bit. The results [from the doctors] were fine and everything. Just stiff, that’s all.”

The play had huge ramifications in the game, said manager Joe Espada.

“That was a big, big play,” he said. “That got [Héctor] Neris out of that inning, potentially me not using [Bryan] Abreu for four outs. Just a big defensive play.”

Welcome back, Héctor
Neris, who was signed Thursday, has fit back into Houston’s bullpen perfectly. He relieved Kikuchi and recorded the final out of the sixth inning before pitching a 1-2-3 seventh, which was capped by Dubón’s catch, and picked up the win.

“He just loves those moments,” Espada said. “Just happy to have him back, and I expect to get him the ball again in big moments like that.”

Neris was a key member of the Astros’ bullpen from 2022-23, posting a 2.69 ERA in 141 regular-season games while helping Houston win the World Series in ‘22. He signed with the Cubs in the offseason but was released last week.

“You can tell by his personality that he’s a perfect guy for this clubhouse,” Hader said. “He obviously has experience with a lot of these guys. You can tell he loves the city of Houston and what this ballclub means to him. For us to have him back is huge on our part, but just to see him excited to be back, it’s very special.”