The Houston Astros got their revenge Thursday night, and it was sweet.
Just last week, Brandon Young nearly threw a perfect game against Houston at Daikin Park. The Baltimore starter carried a perfect game into the eighth inning before settling for 7.2 perfect frames in what became a 7-0 Orioles win.
Thursday’s series opener at Camden Yards? Completely different story.
The Astros jumped all over Young early, plating seven runs through the first three innings en route to a comfortable 7-2 victory. It was the kind of offensive explosion Houston desperately needed after dropping four straight games, including two shutout losses by double digits.
Christian Walker got things started with a two-run homer in the first inning. Yainer Diaz capped the early onslaught with another two-run shot in the third that put Houston up 7-1.
But the real story was Jesus Sanchez breaking out in a big way.
The outfielder went 5-for-5, snapping an 0-for-29 slump that had to be weighing on him. It marked his second career five-hit performance – the first came with Miami back on Sept. 17, 2024, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.
Young, who looked virtually untouchable in Houston the previous week, got tagged for seven runs on nine hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. Sometimes baseball’s a funny game like that.
“We’re going to hit,” Astros manager Joe Espada said, per McTaggart. “I have a lot of confidence in our offense. It does help when you see a starter that sooner. Because it’s fresh in your mind and you can make adjustments quickly. But you’ve still got to execute your gameplan.”
Espada’s point about adjustments is key here. Houston had lost five of six dating back to Young’s near-perfect game, and the manager admitted his team was too aggressive in that first matchup.
“I thought we were more anxious the first time we faced him,” Espada explained. “I thought we were more in control of our at-bats [tonight]. We hit some balls hard everywhere. Much better. That was a really good adjustment that we made.”
That’s what good teams do – they learn from tough losses and make the necessary tweaks. Houston clearly did their homework between these two starts.
The win snapped Houston’s brutal four-game skid and gave them some much-needed momentum heading into the rest of this series. They’ll look to keep it rolling tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET as the series continues in Baltimore.
