LOS ANGELES -- There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and Christian Walker raking at Dodger Stadium.
The Astros first baseman entered Friday hitting .524 with a 1.619 slugging percentage, 11 RBIs and seven home runs over his last five games in L.A.
So what is it about Dodger Stadium for Walker?
"It’s hard to explain,” he said after the Astros' 18-1 walloping of the Dodgers on Friday. “I don’t know if it’s the visuals or the energy. I wish I had an answer.”
Manager Joe Espada offered a theory.
"I think he likes the West Coast,” Espada said pregame. “Really good at-bats in Colorado, and I know he’s excited being here tonight. He really likes the backdrop, likes to drive the ball in this ballpark.
"So hopefully we get to see that this weekend.”
That's exactly what the Astros saw from their slugger in the series opener.
After Isaac Paredes led the game off with a first-pitch home run, Walker kept things going with an RBI single that brought in Jose Altuve from second base to stake Houston to an early two-run lead.
But it was two innings later when Walker really set the tone for the game, turning on a fastball over the heart of the plate from Dodgers starter Ben Casparius and crushing it a Statcast-projected 417 feet into the Left Field Pavilion for a two-run homer to put the Astros up by five runs. By this point, the boos were raining down from Dodger faithful in full force.
"That’s one of the cool things about playing here and against this team. There’s always that certain thing,” Walker said. “It seems like Friday night at Dodger Stadium is the place to be. And it makes it a lot of fun as a player, whether you’re getting booed or cheered for on their side, I’m sure. It’s just a lot of fun.”
It was Walker’s 20th career home run at Dodger Stadium, tying Paul Goldschmidt for the lead among active visiting players. No other visiting player has hit more home runs since the start of the 2018 season.
Walker also became the first player to homer in six consecutive games at Dodger Stadium.
He would drive in another run in Houston’s 10-run sixth inning with a run-scoring hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded. He finished the night 4-for-5 with a home run, three singles and four RBIs.
His 1.184 career OPS and .783 slugging percentage at Dodger Stadium are the highest in MLB history (min. 150 plate appearances).
The performance marked the second consecutive strong July 4 showing by Walker in Los Angeles, as he went 3-for-5 with two homers and three RBIs in 2024 with the D-backs.
Whatever's behind his success in L.A., Walker doesn’t really think about it all too much. He certainly tries not to question it.
"You’re aware of it,” Walker said. “But baseball is funny like that. It’s like, you acknowledge something too much and things tend to trend in the other direction. It’s cool obviously, I accept all of it. But it’s one of those things where it’s like, every day is its own thing.”
Walker’s tenure as an Astro had gotten off to a slow start, as he was batting .213 through the end of June. But his bat began to wake up during Houston’s last series against the Rockies, where he went 6-for-14 (all singles) with two RBIs in three games at Coors Field.
Through the first four days of July, Walker is 10-for-19 with a 1.234 OPS. It’s a small sample size, but it could signal the start of a shift in Walker’s fortunes.
"It’s huge. This lineup is so fun to be a part of,” Walker said. “I want to help. I want to help win more games. I want to be a part of the fun. We’ve been putting a lot of work in, and it’s nice to feel like maybe the luck’s changing a little bit.”
What does Espada think of Walker’s luck after Friday?
"More success,” Espada said. “We've got two more games.”