Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones delivers to Houston Astros’ Jeremy Peña during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)
HOUSTON — Ryan O’Hearn homered and drove in three runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night.
O’Hearn hit an RBI single in the first inning and his two-run homer in the sixth made it 4-0.
Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones (1-0) allowed four hits and walked two in five scoreless innings. Carmen Mlodzinski gave up four hits and a run the rest of the way to get his first save. It was his first work since being put on the restricted list for a day after general manager Ben Cherington told reporters he wasn’t ready to pitch Sunday following a move to the bullpen.
Isaac Paredes hit a solo homer in the sixth inning for the Astros to become the fourth Mexican-born player in the MLB history to reach 100 for his career. But it wasn’t nearly enough to keep Houston from its third loss in four games.
The Pirates’ run of four straight games in which they scored at least nine runs ended. But they still generated plenty of offense to bounce back and take the series after a late-game collapse cost them Wednesday’s game.
Houston starter Kai-Wei Teng (3-4) gave up seven hits and five runs — both season highs — in five-plus innings.
The Pirates led by a run when Brandon Lowe doubled to open the sixth before scoring on a single by Bryan Reynolds.
O’Hearn then launched Teng’s next pitch over the short fence in right field to push the lead to 4-0. Nick Gonzales singled to chase Teng and Steven Okert took over.
Oneil Cruz singled on a groundball to right field. There were two outs in the inning when Jared Triolo reached on an error by Jeremy Pena that allowed Gonzales to score and make it 5-0.
Late night loss
Cam Smith hit a tiebreaking two-run triple to cap Houston’s six-run eighth inning, Paredes homered and the Astros overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Pirates and their bullpen, 11-9, late Wednesday night.
Yordan Alvarez had four hits and two RBIs for the Astros. Smith and Paredes had two hits and three RBIs apiece, and Jeremy Pena went 2 for 3 with a double.
AJ Blubaugh (3-2) pitched the eighth inning to get the victory. Josh Hader made his season debut and worked a scoreless ninth for the save, ending the Pirates’ winning streak at four.
Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti, who went 4-1 in five starts with a 0.93 ERA in May, allowed four runs in four innings.
Henry Davis hit his first career grand slam in the fourth inning for Pittsburgh. Nick Gonzalez had a homer, double and three RBIs.
Pittsburgh’s Gregory Soto (4-1), who faced four batters, allowed three runs and three hits and walked one.
On deck
Tonight: Pittsburgh at Atlanta, 7:15 p.m.
Pitchers: Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (5-2) at Braves LHP Martin Perez (3-3)
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: HANK-FM 96.1