Astros' bats continuing to click -- and they're about to be back at full strength

HOUSTON -- Astros rookie Cam Smith is slowly blossoming into the kind of hitter the club had hoped for when they acquired him from the Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade. Jose Altuve is heating up and starting to drive the ball again. And Christian Walker appears to have figured things out at the plate following a slow start with his new team.

Just think of how dangerous the Astros’ lineup will be when they get slugger Yordan Alvarez back from his hand injury -- something which could happen by the end of the month.

Altuve had four hits, including a pair of homers, and Walker and Jeremy Peña homered to back another strong outing by ace Hunter Brown and lead the surging Astros to their third win in a row, 11-1, over the A’s on Tuesday night at Daikin Park. Houston had a season-high eight extra-base hits.

“We’re swinging the bats well, hitting homers, really driving the ball,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We had good at-bats throughout and everyone was contributing. The guy on the mound for us was also really, really good. Hunter Brown -- six innings, punched out eight. I thought his stuff was really good.”

The Astros, who lead the Major Leagues with a .280 batting average in May, banged out 13 hits, marking the fifth consecutive game they’ve had at least 11 hits in a game. That’s the first time they’ve done that since April 19-23, 2019 -- a juggernaut offense that featured Altuve, Alvarez, Carlos Correa, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, George Springer and a young Kyle Tucker.

“I think everybody looked good today,” said Altuve, who had his 13th career mulithomer game and is hitting .571 (12-for-21) in his past five games. “Everybody has been working really hard on their approach and pitching selection and just trying to get better every day.”

Facing a left-handed starting pitcher for only the sixth time this season, the Astros’ all-right-handed lineup went 10-for-20 against A’s starter JP Sears, who gave up nine runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Peña homered to cap a four-run second, and Altuve homered off Sears in the third and fourth innings.

Walker, who won Sunday’s series finale against the Mariners with a walk-off home run, added a two-run blast in the sixth.

“I thought we used the middle of the field, we used the gaps,” Espada said. “We tried not to pull him as much. I think in the past, we’ve been a little bit too aggressive, chasing a little bit. I thought today, we were more patient. But he has been tough against us. I thought today, our approach and game plan, we stuck to it and we did a nice job.”

Even some of the Astros’ outs were loud. Smith launched a ball 413 feet to deep center in the second inning for an out, but didn’t let it bother him. He ripped a two-run double to left field in the third that made it 7-0. He’s hitting .317 (20-for-63) in May.

“I don’t know how that ball did not leave the yard,” Espada said. “Great swing, and then he pulls the one into the gap. He’s starting to get more comfortable in the batter’s box. He’s got a pretty good idea of what he wants to do and what pitchers want to do. He’s really doing a nice job growing into his swing and understand what adjustments you have to make at the big league level night in and night out.”

Peña has been impressed with the rookie’s progress.

“He’s been actually having great at-bats,” he said. “He looks locked in. He hit that ball 108 [mph]. It was unfortunate that it didn’t leave the ballpark. He didn’t let that get to this head. He kind of took that to the next at-bat and he hit that double. Shoutout to him. He’s been looking good out there.”

Brown (7-3) was the beneficiary of the run support, allowing six hits and no walks in six innings to tie for the MLB lead in wins. He delivered his ninth quality start and lowered his ERA to 2.00 through 67 2/3 innings pitched this season.

“It’s always kind of a challenge to make sure that you stay loose and keep the sweating going when you get pitching changes and mound visits [by the other team],” he said. “As a pitcher, that’s exactly what you’re hoping for every game. … Props to those guys that allowed me to stay on the attack.”