Fiers dominant as Astros hang on for win in series opener in Baltimore
Moran, quick-striking offense collects runs before bullpen makes it interesting in ninth
BALTIMORE — Ten starts later, Mike Fiers is on a roll.
Since he dropped his arm angle, refined his curveball and altered his pitch usage, the oncebeleaguered No. 5 Astros starter has a 2.36 ERA.
For the season, Fiers has a 3.59 ERA, improving it again in the Astros’ 8-7 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at Camden Yards.
Backed by early run support, Fiers held the O’s (46-50) to one run over seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one. Each of the six hits he allowed were singles. Only one — a blooper into shallow right field by Jonathan Schoop in the third inning — came with a runner in scoring position.
“I thought he was really good,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “His fastball was really good. Often times we talk about his curveball and he threw a few of them tonight, but most of it was about his fastball, his command, his control inside the strike zone. He was pretty much in control
Astros update
Friday: Astros 8, Orioles 7. Record: 64-32. Today: At Baltimore, 6:05 p.m. Starting pitchers: Collin McHugh (0-0) vs. Chris Tillman (1-5). TV/radio: AT&T SportsNet Southwest; 790 AM, 94.1 FM (Spanish).
the whole time.”
Yuli Gurriel, back at the park where he made his major league debut in August, had a career-high four hits, including a tworun homer and a double.
Colin Moran, at the park once called home by his uncle, former Orioles AllStar B.J. Surhoff, homered and tripled, both major league firsts for the recently recalled third baseman.
The American Leagueleading Astros (64-32) improved to a major leaguebest 34-11 on the road.
Three of their relievers combined to make the game close, most notably struggling righthander James Hoyt, who surrendered four runs in the ninth inning.
With time winding down before the July 31 trade deadline, the Astros’ bullpen appears in need of bolstering more than their rotation.
They need not worry about their bats. Friday, the Astros outhit the O’s 16-12. They took advantage of the ineffectiveness of Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who among pitchers to have logged 90 innings this season has the worst ERA in the majors: 7.19. Jimenez, charged with six of the Astros’ runs, needed 97 pitches to log 51 innings.
Rallies in early innings
By the end of the second inning, the Astros led 5-0. Jose Altuve set the tone in the first by drawing a walk, stealing second and scoring on a Carlos Beltran single. Gurriel followed with a line drive to right-center field that cleared the fence for a two-run homer.
In the second, Moran ripped a run-scoring triple to right field, a hard-hit line drive on which Orioles right fielder Joey Rickard took a terrible route. Moran scored on an Altuve groundout for the Astros’ fifth run.
Jimenez kept the Astros off the board in the third, fourth and fifth innings before Brian McCann took him deep to lead off the sixth. Against lefthanded reliever Richard Bleier, George Springer, Altuve and Josh Reddick strung together consecutive twoout singles to tack on a second run.
The lefthanded-hitting Moran added a run in the eighth with a shot to right field off Bleier. Before he was called up Tuesday to take the active roster spot of the injured Carlos Correa, Moran had a careerhigh 18 homers in 302 at-bats in Class AAA this season.
“I came to this ballpark a lot as a kid,” he said, “so it’s definitely pretty special to play here in the big leagues.”
Michael Feliz yielded a run in the eighth before Hoyt surrendered four on three hits and a walk in the ninth. After inheriting runners on the corners from Hoyt with only one out, Chris Devenski was tagged by Schoop for a three-run homer on a firstpitch fastball.
Orioles’ uprising
Devenski faced only one more batter, Chris Davis, who bunted his way into an out. Hinch called on Ken Giles, who struck out Mark Trumbo for the final out.
“It was a mess of an inning,” Hinch said.
Far from a mess was their starter. Fiers’ turnaround has been among the most unpredictable developments of this Astros season. Through nine starts, he had a 5.21 ERA and had allowed a major league-worst 18 homers. Hinch told him in late May he was moving to the bullpen. Only Charlie Morton’s injury kept Fiers in the rotation.
Though Fiers dropped his arm angle only slightly before a May 30 start at Minnesota, it’s made a world of difference. He’s also shelved his slider, decreased the usage of his cutter and upped his volume of changeups and curveballs. Things are going so well for him the stadium radar gun flashed 94 mph on one of his fastballs Friday.
“I think the gun was a little hot today,” he said, smiling. “I’m not buying it.”
He was then told Statcast registered the same pitch at 93 mph.
“OK, I can believe that,” he said.
Fiers has simply been a different pitcher in his last 10 starts, a stretch in which he has a .546 OPS against.
“If he’s in the strike zone, he’s really effective,” Hinch said. “I think most of his issues early in the season revolved around walks and home runs and he’s been able to make some adjustments on both of those. His changeup’s always been good. His curveball’s gotten better. His fastball has a little sneak to it. He’s been a real weapon for us and really we’ve needed it.”