TL;DR The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Houston Astros 5-3, with Shane Baz pitching effectively for 5 1/3 innings. Pete Alonso contributed a crucial two-run homer to secure the win.
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 28: Shane Baz #34 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the first inning during a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 28, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 28: Shane Baz #34 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the first inning during a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 28, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tonight marked the third series in a row in which the Oâs have faced a last-place team. Are the Orioles a good team? Weâre not sure. But right now, Houston has the worst record in the American League and is down a whole outfield, a shortstop, practically an entire bullpenâŠ
Surely, given the depleted state of the âStros, the Orioles could hope for nice things tonight? Nice things like Pete Alonso tanks and Shane Baz quality starts.
Well, close enough! Pete the Polar Bear did go deep, a big two-run bomb in the fifth inning to put the Oâs up 4-1, and though a shaky Anthony Nunez allowed it to get close in the eighth, Ryan Helsley slammed the door to preserve a 5-3 win. Meanwhile, Shane Baz finished one out short of a QS, but along the way he showed some of his best stuff all season, going 5 1/3 with just one earned run allowed and six strikeouts.
Tonightâs tart felt like a good time for Shane Baz to find his ace stuff. (Or Iâm just saying that because this is my recap.) But really, itâs getting late enough in the seasonâand Baz far enough removed from surgeryâthat the pressure is on a little bit to see what the talented rightyâs really *got.*
Well, this was a good outing. If weâre nit-picking, Baz is still throwing a lot of uncompetitive breaking pitches outside the zone. But thatâs OK. He has a 99-mph fastball and nasty break, and he made a lot of Astros look bad tonight.
Baz also got to pitch from a 2-0 lead, his team spotting him two quick runs against reliever-turned-starter-for-tonight . Teng had had sparkling results so far (2.16 ERA in 11 appearances out of the bullpen), but the Oâs greeted him rudely.
Hereâs how it went. led off the game with a noisy double to left and scored on an single after the catcher nicely worked the count against Teng. Another hot young bat, that of , hit a scorching 112-mph double to right, and the Birds were up 2-0 without breaking a sweat. A nice change of pace from waiting until the eighth inning to start connecting with the ball.
Baz allowed leadoff hits in both the second and third innings, but no damage. You know whatâs a great way to take care of leadoff RISP? Strike out the side. Baz did that in the second, dispatching the 7-8-9 Astros hitters in order. It was beautiful. He retired the side in the third, too, helped out by âs slick play, gobbling up a slow roller with his bare hand, and firing in time to retire Paredes.
A nice moment in the fourth. Baz fell down 2-0 to , then battled back and finished him off with a cutter. Like âMike Mussina at his best,â pronounced Jim Palmer from the booth. Hey, thatâs pretty good company.
Baz wobbled a bit after striking out the first hitter of the fifth. The No. 9 guy, , hit a fastball into the bleachers on a strong inside-out swing. Now it was 2-1.
But Pete Alonso wisely chose this moment to go long. After Kai-Wei Tengâs three innings, the Astros turned to an ineffective , and then , who entered with an ERA north of six. *Gosh,* fans have asked, *when is Pete Alonso going to start hitting home runs?* We have ourselves have an answer. With one aboard via walk, Weiss left a fastball down the middle, and the Polar Bear delivered, cranking the ball into the bleachers. We now had ourselves a 4-1 Orioles lead.
That lead felt kind of safe, actually. Even when Baz, approaching 100 pitches in the sixth, allowed two two-out singles in the sixth. Baz was yanked, and in came Rico âThe Janitorâ Garcia, to clean up the mess. Well, . That doesnât make any sense here, but Garcia did get out of the inning with a divebomber changeup, like he often does.
The lead shook in the seventh and eighth, I admit. looks to have some rust to shake off, too, by the looks of it. He allowed a single and a double before whiffing . Gutsy! Kittredge intentionally walked the scary , opting to face . Paredes swung through some junk! Now came up with the bases loaded. More junk! More swings! I donât know if to give Kittredge flak for loading the bases, or style points for wriggling out of it. Both!
The Astrosâ Ryan Weiss, a guy pitching in the KBO last season (where he was known as â â), was a hoss tonight, giving his team length, though the results werenât always pretty. Weiss threw breaking balls right and left, mostly successfully. Where it didnât succeed was in the bottom of the seventh, when the Oâs tacked on a fifth run on a Gunnar walk + steal and an Adley single. (Adley: definitely hot right now.)
Rookie Anthony Nunez is having a charmed debut, but there will be tougher competition in this league than Double-A, where he was last season. Christian Walker and his sheriff mustache doubled to lead off the eighth and scored on a triple by No. 8 hitter . Nunez battled to strike out , but Brice Matthews singled to make it 5-3. Would Nunez make it out of the inning? He survived a mound visit, and also Carlos Correa, whom he got swinging on three straight pitches. *Onto the ninth!*
Ryan Helsley had himself a real save situation. He sat down Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and José Altuve in order (defensive replacement contributed a super-slick barehanded play to retire Altuve). The Orioles have themselves a real closer.
Is Shane Baz an ace who was worth four prospects? Are the Orioles a good team? Maybe not yet. But stacking zeroes/wins against bad teams is how you get to such accolades.
Who is your Most Birdland Player of this tidy Tuesday win? Shane Baz, starting to look ace-like, with 5 1/3 one-run innings and six Kâs? Adley Rutschman, 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and lots of nice contact all night? Pete Alonso, with the big two-run bomb? Samuel Basallo, who had two hits of > 105 mph? Andrew Kittredge, for making a mess and cleaning it up himself? Sound off in the comments.