Miley successful in return to Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- Back on the mound at Oriole Park for the first time since 2017, Wade Miley battled through minor command issues for 5 2/3 solid innings to help Houston defeat his former team, 3-2, on Friday night. It was the Astros' seventh consecutive victory, and their 17th win in the last 20 contests.

The 32-year-old hurler avoided damage for much of the evening, scattering five hits and two walks while striking out four, lowering his ERA to 2.99. He allowed just one run -- a Jace Peterson solo homer in the fifth inning.

“I was pretty wild out there early,” Miley said. “I don’t think it was until the fifth inning where I finally started commanding it where I wanted it to, but I was able to make pitches.”

• Box score

Miley's lone mistake came on a 2-1 cut fastball that caught too much of the plate, allowing Peterson to drive it into the left-center-field seats and cut the Astros' two-run lead in half.

“I didn’t want to go 3-1,” Miley said. “I threw a cutter away, not a bad location, but up a [little] bit. If I could throw the same pitch, I’d do it all over again. He got it.”

The lefty lacked the command he’s had for much of the season, throwing just 59 of his 100 pitches for strikes, but he never seemed out of control.

“He battled himself as much as anything,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said of his starting pitcher.

Miley struggled throughout his time with the Orioles -- lasting from the second half of 2016 through ’17 -- largely due to command issues. His career-worst 5.32 walks-per-nine innings came with Baltimore in ’17. However, he has walked just over three batters-per-nine innings in each of the past two seasons.

“It was probably the worst command that he’s had in recent memory, and yet he still pitched very well,” Hinch said.

Jose Altuve singled in the first inning and came around to score on a double by Alex Bregman. The second baseman later poked a triple to right-center to drive in Robinson Chirinos, extending Houston's lead to two again, and ultimately providing the margin of victory.

Reliever Ryan Pressly, in his return from the injured list, fired a scoreless inning, working around one hit and one walk while striking out two.

“Nice to have Pressly back,” Hinch said. “He had to work a little bit. [He was] a little bit wild and maybe a touch rusty, but had the big breaking ball when he needed it and got big outs when he needed it.”