HOUSTON -- Wednesday’s 10-2 drubbing of the White Sox was one of the Astros’ best wins of the season, but those kind of dominating performances have been few and far between in 2025. Still, the Astros’ lead in the American League West continues to grow, even when they’ve battled key injuries and haven’t yet jelled offensively.
Everything came together against the White Sox at Daikin Park, with Christian Walker again showing signs of coming out of his funk with three hits, including a two-run homer, and a season-high four RBIs, and Jose Altuve getting a pair of hits, including the 2,300th of his career.
The win, combined with Seattle’s loss at Arizona, extended the Astros’ lead in the American League West to a season-high four games over the Mariners and Angels, who are tied for second place.
“I think the more momentum we can get, the more confidence we can get and try to make that gap as big as we can,” Walker said. “It is early, but in the same sense a lead’s a lead and that means we’re playing good ball.”
Here’s more on the “good ball” they played Wednesday:
Walker leads the way
Every time Walker has a big game, the Astros hope that’s the one that propels the veteran at the plate after a below-par two-plus months offensively.
He crushed a two-run homer in the first off Sean Burke to put the Astros ahead, 3-0, after they had been outscored 38-15 in first innings this year, and he added a two-run double in the third. The homer had an exit velocity of 107.6 mph, making it his hardest-hit homer of the year. The Astros are 8-0 when he hits a homer.
“I think I’ve been hitting a lot of balls hard, a lot of barrels,” Walker said. “The nature of the at-bats is taking good pitches, swinging at good pitches. I feel good. I’m happy with how competitive I feel in the box right now.”
Walker hit a bloop single in the fifth, a seemingly rare hit for him in which he made soft contact and wound up getting rewarded. He had a shot at hitting for the cycle in the seventh -- he needed a triple -- but struck out instead. Both Walker and manager Joe Espada have been pleased with his swing decisions.
“It’s trusting the process and having the confidence that at some point this is going to turn, and that’s what I see out of Walker,” Espada said. “He knows this tide will turn for him. June, July and August have always been the best months of his career.”
Doing it with Gusto
The best start of rookie right-hander Ryan Gusto’s career couldn’t have come at a better time. The Astros are early in a stretch of 13 consecutive games without a day off and are using a six-man rotation, which means they’re short one reliever. And Gusto hadn’t completed five innings since April 23.
Leaning heavily on a four-seam fastball that touched 97 mph, Gusto completed a career-high six innings with a career-high seven strikeouts, allowing two runs and seven hits for his first win since that April 23 start. An early 3-0 lead helped him go on the attack.
“Knowing where I’m throwing the ball helps a lot,” Gusto joked. “I don’t know if you would have been able to guess that, but it felt good to be able to do that tonight.”
Said Espada: “We all needed that as a staff and also for his confidence. We all know that he can do it, but just the fact he was able to execute and come back in the dugout knowing, ‘I have more in the tank, Joe.’ That feeling is what you want out of your starter.”
Altuve reaches 2,300
Altuve doubled and singled in his first two at-bats, giving him 2,300 hits for his career. That’s the second-most among active players, trailing only Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers, who picked up his 2,342nd hit Wednesday.
“I really want to be around when he gets that 3,000,” Espada said. “Just the fact that he’s able to do that in an era where hitting is becoming harder and he still finds ways to get hits, it’s been amazing to watch this guy for seven, eight seasons now. How he makes it look, we really appreciate it as his manager, his teammates, just to see him do this. Hopefully, he keeps this going.”