BALTIMORE _ As sad as the possibility of Sunday being the last time Adam Jones and Buck Showalter don Orioles colors at Camden Yards _ as distinct an end to this era as there can be _ there was still one final game to be played Sunday, and many of the components in their home whites will be back in Baltimore come April.
And thanks to them, the Orioles won Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards, 4-0, over a playoff-bound Houston Astros team. Every pitch thrown in the one-hit shutout, and every hit collected by an Oriole was by a player who can reasonably claim to be part of the Orioles' immediate future, and they can all go home after Sunday with the knowledge that at least this one went their way.
Absent a hit for Jones, and he was cheered no fewer than 10 times throughout the day, no one could have asked for anything more.
It began with the Astros (103-59), eager to get home and prepare for their playoff showdown with the Cleveland Indians, swinging early and often. Jimmy Yacabonis, pitching on three days of rest after throwing 81 pitches Wednesday night in Boston, retired the first six batters he faced on 13 pitches. He worked around a walk and a hit batter for a scoreless third inning, and got a double play on a line drive to left fielder DJ Stewart to end the fourth after allowing a single and a walk to start that inning.
Then came the fun part for the Orioles (47-115). Jonathan Villar, acquired July 31 for Jonathan Schoop and penciled into one of the middle-infield spots for 2019 and beyond, doubled to open the inning, stole third base uncontested, and scored on a single by Trey Mancini _ who for one at-bat reverted to his rookie form and came through with a man in scoring position, something that's eluded him in 2018.
Mancini hauled around the bases from first to make it 2-0 on a double by designated hitter Tim Beckham, and Beckham scored on a double by Renato Nunez, a May waiver claim who held down the starting third base spot in the second half of the season with every reason to believe he will again come spring.
Then, Stewart, a rookie who has more than held his own since being called up Sept. 12, singled in Nunez to make the score 4-0.
Paul Fry, who emerged as one of the Orioles' most reliable relievers, took over for Yacabonis and retired all nine batters who came up against him over three innings of relief, then turned the ball over to Mychal Givens, who set down all six batters he faced. In between, Showalter pulled Jones, who received a nearly two-minute ovation at the beginning of the top of the ninth.
