Anthony Santander slam rallies Orioles past Astros 7-5

BALTIMORE (AP) — Anthony Santander hit a grand slam off Bryan Abreu in the eighth inning, carrying the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-5 comeback victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Baltimore managed only three hits and trailed 5-2 before rallying to end Houston's nine-game road winning streak. Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman singled before Abreu (2-2) snagged a comebacker but was late trying to get Cowser leaning off third base, loading the bases.

Santander then ripped a 2-1 fastball over the right-field wall for his 38th home run of the season. It was his second slam this season and the fourth of his career.

Ramón Urías tacked on an RBI triple to cap the five-run outburst.

Craig Kimbrel (6-5) worked the eighth and Seranthony Domínguez got three outs for his fourth save since coming to Baltimore in a July trade with Philadelphia and fifth overall.

Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered for Houston, and starter Hunter Brown pitched six innings of three-hit ball.

But all that was undone when Santander went deep in the eighth, saving Baltimore from what would have been its sixth loss in eight games.

The Astros were 10 games out of first place on June 18. Now they’re securely atop the AL West, but manager Joe Espada knows things can change in a hurry. “It feels good to be in this spot, but we’re not spiking the football,” the manager said. “There’s a lot of baseball left.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: Yordan Alvarez (.306, 25 HRs, 67 RBIs) was a late scratch with neck stiffness. He was replaced at DH by Alex Bregman, who was initially penciled in at 3B — his first game in the field since Aug. 14. Bregman has been nursing an elbow injury, which caused him to miss five games and could result in a move to 1B in the near future. “It's going to be a fluid situation,” manager Joe Espada said.

Orioles: CF Cedric Mullins left in the fifth inning with left quad tightness. ... 1B Ryan Mountcastle wasn't in the lineup after hurting his wrist while running the bases on Thursday.

UP NEXT

Houston lefty Framber Valdez (13-5, 3.20 ERA) looks to win his sixth straight start Saturday and improve to 9-0 since June 18. Albert Suárez (6-4, 3.18), who's had three straight scoreless outings, starts for Baltimore.

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Baltimore Orioles' Anthony Santande hits a single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

Baltimore Orioles' Jackson Holliday strikes out swinging during the second inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Cade Povich throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday, left, secures a popup for an out during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson throws to first base during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown delivers during the third inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)