Al Gold, the owner of Napoleon Solo, said he was not sure if the horse had what it took to win the Preakness Stakes.

Fortunately for him, the colt’s connections listened to jockey Paco Lopez, and as a result, the two men, along with trainer Chad Summers, found themselves Saturday in the Laurel Park winner’s circle with each celebrating their first triumph in a Triple Crown race.

Napoleon Solo stalked hometown hero Taj Mahal from the start of the 1-3/16-mile race until they hit the second turn at the Laurel, Md., track. That’s when Lopez kept his mount in control and breezed past the betting favorite. As they turned toward the wire, Napoleon Solo had more than enough to stave off a challenge from Iron Honor to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Leading up to Saturday, that second turn prompted questions about whether the horse named for a character from the 1960s television show “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” from could win one of the sport’s top races. Liam’s Map, Napoleon Solo’s sire, won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile 11 years ago, and many felt the progeny would be better suited for shorter-distance races that featured just one turn.

Napoleon Solo also won the Champagne Stakes, which like the Preakness is a Grade 1 race, last October at Aqueduct in Queens. However, back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial Stakes led his connections to move him off the Kentucky Derby trail.

Even leading up to post time, Gold told NBC Sports he was worried about the distance. However, Gold said Lopez urged Summers to go to Maryland.

“I didn’t want to come here,” the owner said. “I didn’t think this horse could go this far, and Paco, it’s you, baby. You did this.”

There were a slew of other questions about the race as well. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo skipped the race, as did Renegade, who finished second. While the Preakness featured a full field of 14 horses for the first time in 15 years, the headline attraction was Taj Mahal, a colt who won his first three races and all at Laurel, a smaller track located between Baltimore and Washington hosting the classic for Pimlico Race Course while workers finish a $400 million overhaul of the Baltimore track.

Going off at 7-1, Napoleon Solo paid $17.80 on a $2 win ticket, $9.80 to place and $7.40 to show. Iron Honor, who was the 9-2 morning-line favorite but went off as the 8-1 fifth choice, paid $9.20 and $6.60. Chip Honcho came in third, 4 1/2 lengths back of the winner and paid $8.20.

None of the top three ran two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and the winning time of 1:58.69 was more than three seconds off Journalism’s time last year. The Preakness has been run at 1-3/16 miles since 1925, and the last time a slower winning time was recorded was in 1950.

Taj Mahal, trained by Brittany Russell who was seeking to become the first female to prep a Preakness winner, finished 10th. Ocelli, who finished third in Louisville on May 2, came in fourth, followed by Incredibolt.

–Field Level Media

Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez slugged first-inning home runs to key a four-homer assault that propelled the Houston Astros to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Saturday.

The Astros secured the three-game series and will aim for a sweep on Sunday in the finale. Houston prevented Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-3) from securing his 100th win by doing something only one other team has accomplished against deGrom in his illustrious career.

Altuve drilled a 2-0 fastball from deGrom 358 feet out to left field in the bottom of the first inning for his 42nd career leadoff home run. Altuve spotted the Astros a 1-0 lead with his fourth homer of the season and, two batters later, Alvarez doubled that margin by taking deGrom out to right.

Alvarez launched a 3-2 fastball 362 feet for his 15th home run this season. Suddenly trailing 2-0, deGrom rallied with strikeouts of Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake to begin a stretch where he retired eight of nine batters. Zach Dezenzo singled with two outs in the second inning.

But the Astros ambushed deGrom again in the fourth. Walker crushed the first pitch of that frame, a fastball, 422 feet to left-center field for his 11th home run and a 3-0 lead. After deGrom retired Shewmake and Brice Matthews, Zach Cole blasted his third homer 361 feet to right.

deGrom allowed four home runs for the second time in 257 career starts. On July 7, 2017, he surrendered four dingers in a 6-5 road win over the St. Louis Cardinals with the New York Mets. deGrom retired the final seven batters he faced following the Cole homer and surrendered four runs on five hits with four strikeouts in six innings. He matched his season high with 94 pitches.

Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (2-3) worked five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and issued four walks while notching seven strikeouts.

Joc Pederson produced an RBI single against Houston reliever Enyel De Los Santos in the top of the seventh, but the Rangers finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners overall.

Altuve departed in the eighth, clutching his left side after grounding into a double play.

–Field Level Media

Willson Contreras crushed a go-ahead, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning, lifting the visiting Boston Red Sox to a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

After Wilyer Abreu knocked a two-out double deep into the left-field corner, Contreras flipped the score in Boston’s favor when he crushed the low ball deep into the left-center field stands.

Contreras and Abreu both went 2-for-4. Masataka Yoshida had the other Boston RBI.

Contreras’ big swing made a winner out of Peyton Tolle (2-2), who tossed a career-high eight innings in the victory. The Red Sox left-hander allowed just two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out three.

After Tolle pitched three 1-2-3 innings to conclude his outing, Aroldis Chapman stranded the bases loaded – after a two-out fielding error and back-to-back walks – in Atlanta’s ninth to record his 10th save of the season. Ha-Seong Kim grounded back to the pitcher to end the game, forcing a rubber game in the three-game series on Sunday.

Drake Baldwin (home run) and Jose Azocar (two doubles) both went 2-for-3 for the Braves, combining for all four of the team’s hits. Bryce Elder (4-2) was a tough-luck loser, allowing three runs on seven hits through eight innings.

Baldwin wasted no time putting the Braves in front for a 1-0 lead, hitting his second first-inning home run in as many games. This time coming up as the leadoff batter against Tolle, the designated hitter crushed a solo shot to deep center.

Tolle quickly settled in after allowing the early run, retiring the next seven batters he faced and allowing just one additional hit through the first four innings.

The Red Sox wasted Jarren Duran’s leadoff double in the first and did not record another hit until Mickey Gasper’s base knock to begin the fourth. After an Abreu single and Contreras’ fielder’s choice loaded the bases, Gasper slid into the plate with the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly by Yoshida.

In the fifth, the hosts grabbed a 2-1 lead again. Azocar knocked his second straight double inside the third-base line before scoring on Baldwin’s single to right.

–Field Level Media