HOUSTON – The Astros’ offense has been on for a long time, but now it’s about to make history.
With home runs by Michael Brantley and Jose Altuve, Houston crushed the White Sox on Thursday and reached 10 straight games by hitting two or more home runs. That tied a major league record set by the Orioles in 2019.
“I didn’t know that,” Astros manager Dusty Baker confessed. “It feels good when you see the ball leave the park.”
In addition to Brantley and Altuve, Canadian-Venezuelan Abraham Toro — starting at third base for the injured Alex Bregman — homered off Chicago.
Which mark they tied may be unfamiliar to most Astros players, but what they are doing has become a habit. And now Houston has won 12 of its last 16 games, including seven of its last eight at home.
Many hitters are responsible for this hot streak, but none more than Altuve. Second baseman has eight home runs since June 6, his most in a 10-game stretch. He has also blown the fence in four of his last eight at-bats.
“He is not failing his swings. He’s not giving balloons, ”Baker said. “He’s hitting him in the face. It is amazing to me. I’ve seen some of the best power hitters have streaks like this. Let him continue and we will gladly accept everything he can give us ”.
“It’s not a surprise,” added Brantley. “He is a phenomenal player. It’s on right now and I hope it continues. It’s going to be fun hitting behind him. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to be his teammate. “
Altuve, who already has the fourth most hits in franchise history (1,681), doesn’t know how to do it, but he doesn’t deny that he’s in a good zone right now.
“I think every hitter is like that,” said the veteran. “Sometimes we see the ball and we hit it well and sometimes it seems impossible. I’m trying to hit good pitches right now. I’m not trying to hit home runs, I’m trying to see good pitches and hit them hard. We are all doing that. We are scoring a lot of runs per game. I am happy that we are winning some games ”.
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