Urías sends Astros to walk-off win in 12th inning

HOUSTON -- Things were about to get really weird at Daikin Park, if they hadn’t already.

When Astros second baseman Ramón Urías came to bat with the bases loaded and one out in the 12th inning Saturday night, there was no one on deck with the pitcher’s spot due up next. Houston already emptied its bench and lost its designated hitter, so the Astros desperately needed Urías to come through.

Urías hit a ground ball to third baseman Jordan Westburg, who threw to second base for the second out, but the Orioles couldn’t complete the double-play turn as Urías beat the throw to first base to drive in Carlos Correa for a walk-off fielder’s choice in a 5-4 win.

“I just went as hard as I could, and thank God they made that decision and we took advantage of that,” Urías said.

The “decision” Urías was referring to was Westburg’s choice to try to turn a 5-4-3 double play instead of throwing home for what would have been an easy out on Correa at the plate. That would have forced the Astros to allow reliever Enyel De Los Santos to hit or pinch-hit with another pitcher.

“Urías did a great job there, because I don’t know what might have happened afterward,” said De Los Santos, who is 0-for-4 as a hitter in his career and hasn’t had an at-bat since 2019.

The Astros (69-54) picked up a game over the second-place Mariners (68-56) in the American League West and lead the division by 1 1/2 games. If they can beat the Orioles in Sunday’s series finale, they’ll have won four consecutive series since getting swept in Boston from Aug. 1-3.

“Our team persevered, and we won a big game,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “A lot of guys did an outstanding job.”

Houston used all 13 position players and seven pitchers, who combined to allow seven hits and strike out 14 batters. The Astros only had eight hits on offense, but drew nine walks and overcame going 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position (the Orioles were 0-for-14).

“We were one swing away from winning the game, but just [kept] putting ourselves in a position where we can get that big hit,” Espada said.

While franchise icon Jose Altuve clubbed a seventh-inning homer, the Astros got key contributions Saturday from some players who weren’t even on the team to begin the season.

Urías, who broke up a perfect game against his former team with a hit in the eighth inning Friday, was acquired from the Orioles on July 31. De Los Santos, who threw two scoreless innings in relief to get the win -- including a two-pitch 11th inning -- was signed to a Major League contract Aug. 7.

De Los Santos entered in the 11th with the automatic runner at second and got Ryan Mountcastle to fly out to right on the first pitch and Dylan Beavers to line into a double play on the second pitch. He needed just 11 pitches to throw a 1-2-3 12th inning.

“We’re finding out a lot about a lot of these guys right now,” Espada said. “We’re in that spot in the season where we’re going to need a lot of these guys to get big outs, and De Los Santos just did that.”

Then there’s starting pitcher Jason Alexander, claimed by the Astros off waivers May 18 after being designated for assignment by the A’s. He held the Orioles to two runs, three hits and no walks in six innings, extending his scoreless streak to 17 2/3 innings before Dylan Carlson hit a two-run homer in the fifth.

“That’s what this team is all about,” Espada said. “You get different heroes every single day stepping up, staying together. In a long season like this, man, you need everyone pulling the same rope, and we are doing just that.”