Pete Alonso wasn’t going to hold back.

He needed a home run to lift some of the burden from his shoulders, to feel like he was making a contribution beyond his defense and leadership. To prove that hitting the ball hard really does get rewarded.

The hop out of the batter’s box was just the start of the celebration.

Alonso hit an opposite-field two-run shot in the fifth inning in the Orioles’ 5-3 win over the Astros before an announced crowd of 13,233 at Camden Yards. He approached first base, turned to the dugout and yelled. Teammates pounded the railing.

Hearts pounded in the stands as the Astros tried to rally from a 5-1 deficit, but the Orioles held on and improved to 14-15. Houston is 11-19.

“Everyone knows how good Pete is,” said catcher Adley Rutschman. “The guy is all-time. I think, just for him, it was nice to see him get rewarded for his good swing decisions and hit the ball hard. That’s the guy he is, and he’s a leader in this clubhouse and a leader on the field. Love to see him hit a nice homer today.”

“Yeah, that was great to see,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “When Pete is right, especially over the years, he’s driving that ball to right-center field, right field. So it was good to see him stay with his swing, stay with his approach and put a good swing on it.”

Alonso made a diving stop and throw to rob Yordan Álvarez and end the fourth inning and did it again in the eighth to deny Yainer Diaz, the latest mitt gems from a player who must want to add a Gold Glove Award to his resume. What he did in the fifth is more in line with his reputation.

“It’s great,” starter Shane Baz said of Alonso’s defense. “He’s a big body but he moves so good. I don’t think he gets enough credit for his glove. And the feeds are always good to me, so I can’t complain. He’s just such a great guy to have behind you. He’ll talk, too, and say little stuff. He’s a good motivator. I love having him over there. He made a couple of really good plays tonight.”

Here are some other highlights and observations:

Baz at his 2026 best.

Baz came within an out of his first quality start, but he earned his first Orioles win. He held the Astros to one run in 5 2/3 innings, with six hits, one walk and six strikeouts. The ERA was lowered from 5.08 to 4.50.

“I feel like just fastball command was good,” he said. “I felt like I could throw anything in any count. Just one of those outings where I felt like I could mix really well. Just, the command’s good enough to keep them off balance with the fastball. Just being able to go in and up when I want and stuff like that. Yeah, definitely the best so far.

“More just pitching to my strength as opposed to trying to find holes and stuff like that. Just doing what I’m good at and not being behind in the count. Obviously the walk in the first inning. Other than that, it was really good. Just challenging them and trying to mix it up the best I could. Yeah, it worked out.”

Álvarez singled with one out in the first and Isaac Paredes walked, but a strikeout and groundout enabled Baz to escape.

Diaz led off the second with a double on a fly ball down the right field line that nicked Dylan Beavers’ glove as he reached down for it. The next three batters struck out on a 98.6 mph fastball, knuckle-curve and 98.6 mph fastball.

Carlos Correa lined a 109.9 mph single into left field leading off the third, and Baz retired the next three batters. He seemed happy playing in traffic but took a safer approach in the fourth by retiring the side in order.

Baz retired seven in a row before Brice Matthews homered with one out in the fifth. The first two batters in the sixth grounded to short, but Christian Walker dumped a single in front of Beavers and Diaz reached on an infield hit. Baz came out after 98 pitches and Rico Garcia struck out Dustin Harris to strand the runners.

How badly did Baz want to finish the inning?

“Yeah, I mean, really bad,” he replied. “Obviously you turn around and Rico’s running in and you’re like, ‘All right. Should be good.’ I always want the ball and I want to stay in especially to finish my innings and stuff like that. No, skip made a good call there.”

Andrew Kittredge fell into immediate trouble in the seventh on a single and double, and the Orioles walked Álvarez intentionally after a Correa strikeout to load the bases. A risky move, especially with Kittredge falling behind 3-0 to Paredes.

Kittredge struck out Paredes and Jose Altuve, just as Albernaz designed it.  

“It’s a tough decision because you don’t want to load the bases for any pitcher,” Albernaz said. “Now you’re forcing them, kind of in a tough spot, to throw strikes. But also, once that ball went down the line, the base was open. We had Wolfy (Grant Wolfram) up, but to bring him in for Yordan and then the righties behind him, who are, like we just talked about, really good hitters, and we liked the matchup with Kitt with those righties. So once that base was open, I didn’t say we had to do it, but that’s what really swayed my decision. And Kitt did a great job of just making pitches.

“Kitt did a great job. He did a great job executing. Even when he fell behind 3-0 to Isaac, it didn’t feel like it was the at-bat was over, and he did a great job competing back in the strike zone.”

Kittredge had one thought: Limit the damage.

“With second and third there with one out, kind of just assume that guy on third is going to score one way or another,” he said. “I think that helps get back in the right frame of mind, just attacking guys, and if he puts the ball in play, chances are he’s going to score. But then, in the heat of the moment, the count and the way it worked out, it was just, make some pitches.

“Fortunately, I got away with that last one. That last pitch to Altuve was kind of a hanging breaking ball, but I just wanted to attack and go at guys and make them earn it.”

Anthony Nunez allowed two runs in the eighth, matching his earned run total over his first 12 appearances. Harris had an RBI triple on a ball that didn’t take the expected carom for Beavers, and he scored on Matthews’ single. But Nunez also struck out two in the inning.

The ball that Harris hit hugged the fence and got stuck in a crevice that’s out of the dugout and press box views.

“I had no idea, obviously with my vantage point, what happened,” Albernaz said. “(Colton) Cowser’s actually the one that came up and let me know, and he said he’s never seen a ball go in there. He’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s in play.’ I called our replay person, Nate, and he said, ‘Yeah, that’s in play.’

“That’s like the grounds crew area, a little doorway. That’s something we’re going to continue to look into, maybe have to change the ground rules. Yeah, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Ryan Helsley recorded his seventh save.

The Orioles stayed true to character in first inning

Gunnar Henderson had a leadoff double off Kai-Wei Teng and he hustled for it, creating a close play at second base that likely would have gone against him if Altuve held onto the ball. It beat Henderson to the bag. Rutschman singled with one out to score Henderson, swinging the hot bat that produced his 11th hit in his last six games.

Alonso grounded out, with Altuve ranging behind second base to backhand the ball and lob a throw. The exit velocity for Alonso was 106.6 mph.

Hit it hard and have nothing to show for it except moving up a runner.

The two-catcher lineup worked again. Samuel Basallo doubled to right field at 111.4 mph for a 2-0 lead, his 10th hit in his last 17 at-bats. And it became 11 hits in 18 with his 103.6 mph single leading off the fourth.

“Sammy’s a phenomenal hitter and just continues to look better at the plate, more comfortable, taking his hits the other way,” Rutschman said. “Mistake pitches up, he’s hammering. He looks really good right now, and just super proud of the learning that he’s done.”

The lead expanded to 5-1 in the seventh when Rutschman singled up the middle to score Henderson, who walked and stole second base. Rutschman now has 12 hits in six games and is batting .345 with a 1.018 OPS.

The Astros are starting three right-handers in the series and there’s really no reason to deviate from this arrangement.

The best catching duo in baseball?

Getting harder to argue it.

“I would say it’s up there,” Albernaz said. “I’m biased, obviously. Get to watch these guys every day, watch them work, and yeah, I’d definitely say we have the best catching tandem. Like I said, I’m biased. But no, they’re doing a great job at the plate, their at-bats have been awesome, and doing a great job of leading our pitching staff, which is the biggest thing for me is how they influence every decision on that side of the ball and doing a great job being prepared and working with our guys.”

For you small ball enthusiasts …

Basallo’s single in the fourth was followed by a Leody Taveras single, which brought Beavers to the plate.

Rather than swing away, Beavers laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with one out.

Steven Okert was done after facing only three batters in relief of Teng. Ryan Weiss entered the game and struck out Coby Mayo and Jeremiah Jackson.

The Orioles already have matched last year’s total of four sacrifice bunts.

Another baserunning breakdown

Jackson was 5-for-29 since hitting a home run at Progressive Field, but he singled tonight with two outs in the second inning … and became the seventh Oriole to be picked off.

This count includes pickoff/caught stealing plays.

Henderson was at the plate when Jackson was nabbed. Never good to take the bat out of his hands.

“I think with J.J. today, his lead was too big,” Albernaz said. “He wasn’t going anywhere, and that’s what I was talking to him about where you kind of just got caught. We know Teng has a great move. Two outs, I get his mindset, he was trying to score from first. I told him, ‘We want to get that on the secondary lead, not on your primary.’

“It’s little things like that that we have to button up. We can’t give away free outs, especially outs on the bases. That’s something that we’re going to continue to address, continue to work on so we improve and get better.”

The Orioles moved into a tie with the Braves, Astros and Nationals for most times picked off in the majors. They were tied with the Rockies at six before tonight.

In case you’re wondering, the 1993 and 2008 Orioles were picked off 22 times, according to STATs, whose research goes back to 1974.

Extras, extras

Taylor Ward singled in the third inning and walked in the fifth, which is on brand for 2026. A reminder that Ward and Frank Robinson are the only players to have at least 30 hits and 20 walks through 30 career games with the Orioles, per STATS … Triple-A Norfolk’s game in Nashville was rained out … Double-A Chesapeake second baseman Aron Estrada went 3-for-4 with a home run … High-A Frederick left-hander Joseph Dzierwa allowed one run and two hits in four innings. Ike Irish and Colin Tuft each had three hits, with Tuft coming within a double of the cycle.