BALTIMORE _ What began with a flourish Friday at Camden Yards in the form of the first of many ovations for veteran outfielder Adam Jones and an early lead on his first-inning double ended, as most Orioles games have this year, with a frustrating loss.
The Orioles opened their final series of the season with a 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros, who drew a pair of walks and singled twice in the span of four batters in the eighth inning to push across the go-ahead run against reliever Tanner Scott after rookie David Hess held them to one run in seven shining innings to start the game.
Hess' performance, combined with the early spark from Jones, made it an energetic night at Camden Yards before an announced 18,434 fans. Hess stranded a leadoff bunt single by Jose Altuve in a quick first inning, and by the time he took the mound in the second, the Orioles had their only run of the night.
Shortstop Jonathan Villar singled with one out and went to second on a groundout up the middle by Trey Mancini. Then, Astros starter Gerrit Cole stepped off the mound to allow Jones to soak in what will be the first of many warm standing ovations this weekend as he and the team's fans face the possibility he won't wear an Orioles uniform beyond this season.
Jones responded with a run-scoring double down the right-field line, and Hess made that lead stand up until the sixth inning with little resistance. In the third, he allowed a leadoff single and hit the following batter, but fellow rookie DJ Stewart recorded his first outfield assist on a fly ball to the warning track in left field by throwing out catcher Martin Maldonado trying to take third base.
Josh Reddick homered with two outs in the sixth after a grinding at-bat, and Hess issued a pair of walks in the seventh, but stranded them to finish his season with a 4.88 ERA. Since he returned to the rotation in August after the Kevin Gausman trade, he had a 3.88 ERA.
But once he left, Scott struggled. Center fielder Tony Kemp popped up the first pitch on a bunt attempt for a quick out, but Scott then issued a pair of walks and then allowed singles to Alex Bregman and Marwin Gonzalez to score the go-ahead run.
Ryan Meisinger got a double play to end the inning and Mychal Givens pitched a clean ninth, but the Orioles didn't have a hit between rookie catcher Austin Wynns' one-out single in the fifth inning and a two-out single in the ninth by Stewart. Pinch runner John Andreoli was on second base after a wild pitch when center fielder Jake Marisnick dove and caught a sinking line drive by Renato Nunez to end the game and keep the Astros' 101st win intact.
Cole, Tony Sipp, Collin McHugh and Roberto Osuna combined to hold the Orioles to six hits, and Friday was the 40th game out of 158 where they scored one run or fewer. The Orioles fell to 46-113.
