ARCHIVE April 30, 2026
April 30, 2026 · AL East

Houston Astros vs Baltimore Orioles

April 30, 2026Oriole Park at Camden YardsPartly Cloudy 65°F · 14 mph, Out To RFGame 2 of doubleheader
AWAY
Houston Astros
12-20
11
vs
HOME
Baltimore Orioles
15-16
5

Starting pitchers

AWAY · HOU
Lance McCullers Jr.
Lance McCullers Jr.
IP 6
HOME · BAL
Brandon Young
Brandon Young
IP 4

Box score

  123456789 R
HOU 510410000 11
BAL 000300101 5

Manager comparison

Both managers grade D+ / C+ entering this matchup.

AWAY · HOU
Joe Espada
D+ Lineup 2.8 R Bunts 0.7 R IBBs 0.4 R
HOME · BAL
Craig Albernaz
C+ Lineup 1.2 R Bunts 0.3 R IBBs 1.8 R

Recent form

AWAY · HOU
5-4 W1 -2 run diff
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HOME · BAL
3-7 L2 -25 run diff
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Season series: 1-2 with HOU listed first across 4 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Houston Astros
  • Manager lineup cost +0.04 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.89 vs actual lineup 4.85
  • Player execution +6.15 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.85 projection by 6.15 (scored 11)
  • Game variance +6.11 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Smith HR from the 7-hole

HOME · Baltimore Orioles
  • Manager lineup cost −0.02 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.96 vs actual lineup 4.99
  • Player execution −1.99 R/G Players fell 1.99 short of the lineup's 4.99 projection (scored 3)
  • Game variance −1.96 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Henderson 0-for-3 batting 1st

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.9 – 5.0 — actual was 11 – 3.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.