BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles’ best pitcher and best hitter were at the top of their games Sunday.

Trevor Rogers set a new season high with nine strikeouts and Gunnar Henderson stuffed the box score with a home run and two stolen bases in the Orioles’ 3-2 win over the Houston Astros. The victory salvaged the Orioles (60-70) a win out of an otherwise lousy four-game set, particularly for the club’s pitching staff and defense.

Rogers played the stopper role to perfection, putting himself into a few more jams than usual but working out of them masterfully to finish with one run allowed in seven innings. He’s completed at least seven frames in five of his past six outings while lowering his season ERA to 1.40, best in the major leagues among pitchers with at least 80 innings.

“I’m always trying to go deep into games,” Rogers said. “It’s not my focus, but that’s a goal every time out. I think we’ve got a 13 in a row stretch here, so the fact that I can go deep in the game and give some relief to the bullpen, keep them fresh going forward, it’s just icing on the cake for me.”

The left-hander has already etched his name in Orioles history for his spectacular season thus far, but he’s been even more impressive of late. With his performance Sunday, Rogers became just the second Orioles pitcher ever to go six straight starts of at least six innings with one run or fewer allowed. Jim Palmer is the only other to do it with eight in a row in 1978.

Henderson gave his starter an early cushion with a solo homer off Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti in the first for his 16th long ball of the season. His two stolen bases pushed his total there to 19, putting him in range of joining Brady Anderson as the only players in club history with multiple 20-20 seasons if he can finish the year strong.

“You look out on that field — of the eight players out on the field, it’s not the 2025 Opening Day Orioles. It’s probably more of the 2025 Opening Day Norfolk Tides in a lot of ways,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “For Gunnar to kind of be in the middle of the whole thing today and get us going … gets the big hit, made some defensive plays, proud of him.”

The Orioles’ offense was largely quiet on the afternoon but Henderson was a one-man spark in the sixth, reaching on a two-out single and stealing both second and third before scoring on an RBI single by Ryan Mountcastle. After shortstop Jeremy Peña drove in the Astros’ lone run off Rogers with an RBI single in the third, Henderson’s run put Baltimore back in front.

Luis Vázquez then provided a key insurance run an inning later with the first home run of his MLB career, a 416-foot blast to left-center field. The utility infielder, who entered the afternoon hitting .138 in 30 plate appearances this season, has started every game at third base since Jordan Westburg tweaked his ankle and landed on the injured list this past week.

“Just thanking God for everything,” Vázquez said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Thinking of my family rounding the bases, so much hard work to get here and just honestly couldn’t believe that it happened. I was also thinking of my grandma who supported me [for] so many years and couldn’t be here today and isn’t here today.”

That was the only run the Orioles managed to push across against the Astros’ bullpen, including in the eighth against former Baltimore reliever Craig Kimbrel. The right-hander was the Orioles’ closer for much of last season before the club released him in September amid a disastrous second half. Signed by Houston last week, Kimbrel took the mound to a chorus of boos from the Camden Yards crowd and faced the minimum in a scoreless frame.

While the Orioles’ bullpen did make things interesting in the eighth when Rico García loaded the bases with one out, Keegan Akin took over and escaped the jam. Mansolino then kept him in the game for the ninth and he set the Astros down in order to convert his third save of the season.

“I’m used to multiples, so this is kind of the first year I’ve really kind of knocked it down to one inning or a third or two-thirds like that,” Akin said. “I’m honestly a little bit more comfortable kind of going one-plus type stuff, but it’s definitely not as easy as Félix [Bautista] makes it look. But I’ll try my best.”

Postgame analysis

Akin was as impressive as he’s been all season Sunday, throwing two-thirds of his pitches for strikes and inducing five swings and misses. The left-hander has struggled with walks this season issuing a career-worst 4.9 free passes per nine innings heading into the contest. But he set out to pound the strike zone and results followed.

“I kind of have gotten in trouble with a little bit and that’s kind of what I told myself is just quit walking people,” Akin said. “If I get hit and give it up, that’s part of the game. Those guys get paid to hit. But when you give them free passes, it makes it a little easier, so that was kind of where I took a step back and looked at it and said, ‘I’ve got to quit walking people.’ I’m aggressive in the zone, good things should happen.”

Mansolino has declined to name a specific closer with Bautista out for the season but rather relied on matchups. Akin has had his number called more than any other reliever so far and with platoon-neutral splits, he offers the Orioles’ best chance at bringing stability to what has been a chaotic ninth inning since the trade deadline.

What they’re saying

Mansolino on Rogers grinding through the outing despite not having his best stuff:

“I was saying to [pitching coach Drew French] in the sixth inning, one of those fastballs registered at 89 [mph], ‘We might start thinking about who’s coming into this game next.’ I think the pitch count was at a decent spot. Just kind of watching him, it wasn’t quite the same. Super gritty and he shows that even on days that he doesn’t have his best stuff, he’s able to navigate seven innings, one run, playoff team, veteran team, (Carlos) Correa, (Jose) Altuve and the crew. Just proud of him. It was gritty.”

By the numbers

Rogers has yet to allow an earned run in the first inning this season, making him the only pitcher with at least 10 starts to sport a 0.00 ERA in the first inning. The next closest starter is Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, who has a 0.33 first-inning ERA in 27 outings.

On deck

The Orioles continue their homestand with a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox beginning Monday. In addition to Tomoyuki Sugano starting Monday, Kyle Bradish is also trending toward making his season debut Tuesday and Cade Povich is listed as the club’s probable pitcher for the finale Thursday. Baltimore hasn’t yet named a starter for Wednesday.

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