BALTIMORE -- Marwin Gonzalez dug into the batter's box against Orioles reliever Darren O'Day in an incredibly unfortunate circumstance Saturday night. And then he did something the first-place Astros haven't been able to do all year.
Gonzalez, taking the place of an injured Colin Moran, worked an 0-1 count for eight more pitches and delivered a decisive three-run, pinch-hit homer in the top of the sixth inning to lift Houston (65-32) to an 8-4 series win over the Orioles. The two-out homer, the first pinch-hit blast by an Astro all year, was part of a crazy five-run frame that also saw Yuli Gurriel -- fresh off a career-high four-hit night -- go deep.