HOUSTON -- The Astros struggled in the first half of May, falling to a season-worst 11 games under .500, and their sluggish offense was largely to blame.
Over the last nine games, however, the offense has heated up, scoring at least four runs in eight of those contests, and Houston finds itself just three games back of first place in the American League West (27-33) -- with division leader Seattle playing later Saturday night.
Astros leadoff hitter Jeremy Peña has been a big part of the offensive resurgence. The All-Star shortstop had three hits, including a two-run homer, and scored three times, and Christian Walker hit a three-run homer to power the Astros past the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-2, on Saturday at Daikin Park.
“That was a great team win,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Peña in that leadoff spot. Dynamic, explosive. Home runs, running the bases, stolen base, scoring on that ground ball to first. Walker to seal the deal there with that 3-0 oppo home run.”
Peña, who has three home runs in his last five games, capped off a three-run second inning with his Statcast-projected 392-foot home run into the Crawford Boxes in left field.
Peña missed over a month with a right hamstring strain, but since returning on May 18, he has batted .289 with three home runs, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored.
“That was the urgency with wanting him back in the lineup,” Walker said. “He brings a lot of energy, brings a lot of confidence. He’s a tough at-bat right from the jump. Obviously, there’s slug in there, too. You start the game with some extra-base hits. He’s so much more than just a speedy guy getting around the bases. He provides some serious thump at the top.”
“The way he plays, he has this presence about him,” Espada said. “The way he carries himself, how hard he runs the bases, the smile. Like he brings this energy to the clubhouse. It does. His personality really gets us going. When he starts swinging the bat that way, we are rolling. He’s a spark plug at the top of our lineup.”
Jake Meyers hit an RBI single earlier in the second.
The Astros broke the game open with three runs in the fifth. Peña slid around a William Contreras tag attempt at home on Taylor Trammell’s RBI infield single, and Isaac Paredes hit a double down the left-field line to make it 6-2.
Walker hit his 16th homer of the year in the eighth, a 348-foot opposite-field blast to right. His nine home runs this month are tied for the most of any month in his career with May 2022.
“I feel competitive,” Walker said. “I haven’t really had the results lately as far as number of hits. Mostly making good decisions. They have some good arms. These at-bats are tough. They’re grindy. That’s a good team over there. But trying to remain confident. I missed the barrel a couple of times, but good swings, right on stuff, just missing. It was nice to find the barrel, keep it simple and be rewarded for that.”
The run support was plenty for starter Peter Lambert, who yielded two runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in five innings for his second straight win. Lambert has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his eight starts this season.
“Overall, I was happy to get through five and only give up two, especially with how that fifth inning dragged on,” Lambert said. “To get that final out and keep only two runs on the board, that was big. I was happy with it. Great team win. The offense put it on them pretty good today. That was good to see.”
Houston has won seven of its last nine games after starting 20-31.
“There’s no secret, I think we all trust each other in this room,” Walker said. “I think it’s easy to want to hit the panic button, but as the players here, we have to do a good job of staying calm and playing our game. I think we’ve done a great job of that up until now.
“The division being within reach is a huge help there. That’s part of it. I think there’s two sides. We know what we are capable of, but also, we know we can get hot and win a lot of games in a short amount of time. Just trying to remain confident and trust each other.”