Astros’ Bats Breaks Out, Win 11-5 Over Diamondbacks

Fresh off a disappointing sweep by the hands of the Reds earlier in the week, I was honestly a little nervous entering this series against the Diamondbacks. For one, Arizona has one of the best lineups in baseball. It also doesn’t help matters that the Astros’ lineup wasn’t exactly clicking on all cylinders. That last game, in particular, saw Houston shut out with little life. To be fair, it is difficult to judge a lineup based on a single game, but the fact is that this team is short on above-average hitters. Especially in the bottom half of the batting order with no Kyle Tucker to help matters.

Well, so much for worrying about that, at least for Saturday. Swap out Tucker, who is still easing back into the flow, with Bregman, and the Astros finally fired on all cylinders as a lineup. Only two hitters — Jake Meyers and Ben Gamel — were held hitless, but everyone else picked up the slack. Jose Altuve, three hits. Yordan Alvarez, three hits of his own. Chas McCormick and Jeremy Peña each had two hits apiece. It was the latter’s three-run dinger in the bottom half of the sixth that truly broke this game open for Houston.

All said and done, the Astros hammered the Diamondbacks for 11 runs in total, with most of the damage occurring against Eduardo Rodriguez and Dylan Floro. With the Mariners gaining some ground in recent days for the AL West lead, it was an encouraging development. Once Tucker shakes some rust off in the coming weeks, I feel a bit better about this lineup heading into October, if Houston qualifies for the postseason.

On the pitching side, Yusei Kikuchi pitched well enough, even if he didn’t have his best stuff. His velocity was noticeably down a couple of ticks across most of his pitches. Arizona tagged him for four runs, including two home runs, but the left-hander was able to minimize the damage before it got too out of hand. Kikuchi was able to settle down following that rough second inning, although a pair of solo home runs to Kevin Newman and Eugenio Suarez would elevate my blood pressure. By the time Kikuchi left the game, Houston’s lead was only a run entering the bottom half of the sixth before the floodgates opened.

With a 10-4 lead entering the seventh inning, it felt like a night where the leverage relievers could get some rest. Alas, Caleb Ferguson ran into some trouble, putting two runners in scoring position with only one out. Christian Walker’s RBI single shortened the lead to 10-5, but Joe Espada turned to Bryan Abreu to get that final out to keep the damage to a minimum. Ronel Blanco would close out the game, with two innings of scoreless work. In a relief role, it wasn’t surprising to see his pitches play up in terms of velocity and it showed. It provides an idea of what to expect in the postseason if Blanco is assigned to the bullpen, which he most likely will.

All in all, it was a great day at the ballpark for the Astros. The lineup clicked, even without Tucker. The pitching staff had the occasional hiccup but did enough to keep the game close until the bats broke out. In addition, the Mariners lost their game against the Cardinals and the Astros’ lead in the AL West increased back to 5 ¹⁄₂ games. Not a bad day at the ballpark, at all.