HOUSTON -- The weight of the world was probably lifted off Christian Walker’s shoulders while he was taking his game-winning home run trot around the bases. If the roar of a jubilant Sunday crowd wasn’t enough to bring a smile to Walker’s face, then his teammates mobbing him at home plate was sure to get the job done.
Walker, who’s underperformed as the team’s biggest winter signing, shed two months' worth of offensive frustration by clubbing a walk-off two-run homer off reliever Casey Legumina in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the Astros to a 5-3 win over the Mariners at Daikin Park.
“It felt good, for sure,” Walker said. “It’s nice to execute in a big moment. It’s nice to come through for the guys. This lineup has been picking each other up all year. I feel like you’re earning your keep a little bit, winning a big series at home. Good crowd today. The whole thing was enjoyable.”
The Astros, without injured slugger and Mariners nemesis Yordan Alvarez, took three of four games from Seattle to get within 1 1/2 games of the lead in the American League West. They improved to 15-5 in their past 20 home games and went 10-7 during a season-long 17-game stretch without a day off, which concluded Sunday. Exhausted manager Joe Espada said Monday’s off-day will be more enjoyable.
“This team has been grinding for 17 days, man,” he said. “[We went] 10-7, [had] all hands on deck. Just proud of our effort and how we’re piecing together -- our bullpen, grinding at-bats, getting big hits when we need to. Just an outstanding job.”
Houston’s bullpen has been terrific all season, despite a blown save Friday that ultimately cost the Astros a chance at a four-game sweep of Seattle that would have vaulted them into first place. The big relief outs Sunday came from Kaleb Ort, who struck out Randy Arozarena swinging to end the seventh and strand a pair, and lefty Bryan King, who recorded the final four outs with setup man Bryan Abreu and closer Josh Hader unavailable.
“In a tie game, your job is to get the team back in the dugout and keep it where it’s at,” said King, a Rule 5 Draft acquisition in 2022. “I feel like we did that. The defense was making plays, and it was a cool way to end it.”
Indeed. Walker, who entered the game hitting .202 with a .600 OPS, went 3-for-5 with an RBI single in the third inning. After Jose Altuve led off the ninth with a single, Walker immediately fell behind, 0-2, before turning on a 95.4 mph fastball from Legumina. He hit a 106.4 mph laser into the Crawford Boxes for his second career walk-off homer.
“[Legumina’s] motions, his leg kick, his arm swing, it was all real quick,” Walker said. “He threw two four-seams pretty much right by me there, and I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could to get my foot in the ground and be ready to get on another fastball. Not really cheating or guessing, but no reason to go spin there based on how the first two looked. I shortened my leg down a little bit and just stuck my toe in the dirt and tried to get a good swing off.”
The Astros’ offense has been doing just enough without Alvarez, who has been on the injured list since May 5, retroactive to May 3, with right hand inflammation. Walker has admitted his lack of production has been frustrating, and it even led him to change lockers, briefly sport a mustache and wear his pants higher in the past few days.
Whether those superstitious moves had any effect on his big swing Sunday isn’t known, but Walker hasn’t stopped working to regain his swing. It paid off in a huge way with his biggest swing yet as a member of the Astros.
“We expect a lot out of ourselves,” he said. “We work really hard. We put a lot into this. To feel like you’re not doing what you need to do is frustrating, but it’s frustrating for me because I want to be a part of these wins. I want to help the team win. [When] the team loses and you don’t feel good about your performance, it’s hard to deal with. Just trying to build momentum, just trying to stay confident and remind myself when I’m in the box, it’s all about competing.”