After Stevie Wilkerson drew the Orioles’ first walk in 20 innings, rookie shortstop Richie Martin continued his improved hitting in a big way Saturday.
Martin’s two-run home run off Houston Astros left-hander Reymin Guduan provided some much-needed insurance in the Orioles’ 4-1 victory Saturday.
A half-inning earlier, the Astros had the go-ahead run at the plate in star infielder Alex Bregman. But Miguel Castro, the hard-throwing 24-year-old right-hander who took a 5.57 ERA with him to Minute Maid Park’s mound despite nine scoreless innings across his past four outings, got him to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.