Taylor Ward's 2-run homer in 8th lifts Orioles to 5th straight win, 3-2 over Astros

HOUSTON (AP) — Taylor Ward hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Houston Astros 3-2 on Friday night to extend their season-best win streak to five games.

Adley Rutschman had a ground-rule double to begin the inning against Bryan King (2-3) before Ward hit the next pitch out to left for his seventh homer.

Cam Sanders (1-0), acquired from Pittsburgh for cash on Monday, came in with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. The right-hander struck out Isaac Paredes looking and got Christian Walker to pop out foul behind home plate to pick up his first major league win.

Tyler Wells allowed Jeremy Peña's infield hit in the ninth before retiring Yordan Alvarez on a shallow fly to center field for the second out. After Paredes walked, Wells struck out Walker for his third save.

Houston starter Peter Lambert allowed three hits, struck out a career-high 10 over six innings and left with a 2-1 lead. He issued three straight two-out walks in the third, including a free pass to Pete Alonso that made it 1-1.

Alvarez had an RBI double in the first for Houston and finished 2 for 3 with two walks. He leads the AL with a .321 batting average, 71 RBIs and 31 home runs as he pursues the Triple Crown.

Paredes’ sacrifice fly in the third made it 2-1. Orioles starter Dean Kremer allowed two runs in four innings.

Astros center fielder Lucas Spence made his big league debut and singled in the seventh.

Orioles LHP Trevor Rogers (6-7, 4.48 ERA) starts Saturday opposite Astros RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-5, 4.50).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Houston Astros' Lucas Spence grounds out to Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer delivers to Houston Astros' Jeremy Pena during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert delivers to Baltimore Orioles' Adley Rutschman during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Baltimore Orioles' Coby Mayo, left, and Pete Alonso, right, celebrate their win over the Houston Astros after a baseball game, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Baltimore Orioles' Taylor Ward (3) celebrates his go-ahead, two-run home run with teammates during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A lawmaker sponsoring a key piece of federal college sports legislation said he believes the bill likely has the support it needs to make it through the upper chamber.

“We probably have 60 votes,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said Friday at the Associated Press Sports Editors meeting.

Schmitt called the next two weeks critical for the Protect College Sports Act.

He said leaders from the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences, both of which oppose the bill as it is written, have met with him and other top sponsors — including Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.. — to negotiate changes in the bill in an effort to gather their support.

Without the bill, Schmitt said “the trajectory of this in three years will be even further unrecognizable,” predicting a scenario in which women’s sports teams fold under financial strain.

College sports has been struggling to find a fair way to pay players for their name, image and likeness since payments to players were approved by a federal court last summer.

The legislation introduced by Cruz and Cantwell offers the NCAA and conferences limited liability protection and moves to preempt the patchwork of state laws that govern NIL payments. It also opens the option for conferences to pool their media rights — a move proponents say could generate extra billions but that the SEC and Big Ten do not support.

In a letter to school presidents last month, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey outlined worries that the bill could create more problems than it solves. Sankey suggested rewriting a section of the bill that allows athletes to file civil lawsuits in certain cases, saying as it was written it could create more litigation instead of reducing it.

Even if the bill passes the Senate, it would face an unlikely run through the narrowly divided House, where both Democrats and Republicans have found a number of flaws with another bill — the SCORE Act — that never came to a floor vote.

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)