After an impressive four-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox to cap off their recent homestand, the Astros started a week-long road trip on Monday in Baltimore. The game was delayed about an hour due to rain, but once it got started, it was all Astros as they dominated Baltimore for their eighth straight win.

Final Score: Astros 10, Orioles 2

Astros' Record: 44-28, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi (2-3)

Losing Pitcher: Keegan Akin (0-3)

Odorizzi goes five hitless innings

Jake Odorizzi had his best start of the year, taking care of business against a struggling Baltimore lineup. He was perfect through the first four and one-third innings, retiring the first thirteen batters he faced. The only allowed baserunner came with one out in the fifth, on a walk, which he erased by sitting down the next two batters. With a rising pitch count, he would get the knuckles from Dusty Baker to end his night: 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 86 P.

Houston plates five in the third

His offense gifted him with a large lead by exploding for a big third inning. The first four batters all reached base, with Chas McCormick bringing in the first run of the night on an RBI single. Yuli Gurriel brought in another with a sac fly for the first out, followed by Yordan Alvarez, who scored the remaining two players on base with a three-run opposite-field homer to make it 5-0.

Cristian Javier took over in the bottom of the sixth, completing a 1-2-3 inning to keep Baltimore hitless. Houston added to their lead in the top of the seventh, getting Yuli Gurriel's second sac fly of the night and an RBI single by Carlos Correa to make it 7-0. Javier returned to the mound, with rain falling, and retired three more Orioles hitters in order in the bottom of the seventh.

Astros take the opener

As the rain picked up in the top of the eighth, the umpiring crew had no choice but to delay the game 41 minutes with one out and a runner on. When things resumed, Michael Brantley continued to rake, hitting a two-RBI double, then a pinch-hitting Garret Stubbs made it double-digits with an RBI double to make it 10-0.

In the bottom of the eighth, Brandon Bielak hit a batter with one out, then after a missed strike three by Angel Hernandez, which would've kept the no-hitter going, Baltimore got a two-run homer to end the no-hitter and make it a 10-2 game. Brooks Raley came in for the bottom of the ninth, wrapping up the long game and giving Houston their eighth win in a row to take over sole possession of first place in the AL West with an Oakland loss earlier in the evening.

Up Next: The middle game of this three-game series will start at 6:05 PM Central on Tuesday and features the pitching matchup of Zack Greinke (7-2, 3.74 ERA) for the Astros and Jorge Lopez (2-8, 5.95 ERA) for the Orioles.