ANAHEIM -- After Sunday’s 8-7 series-clinching victory over the Angels, the Astros head back to Houston with an MLB-best 14-6 record in June, including nine wins in a run of 13 straight games without an off-day.
“We’re never out of a game,” manager Joe Espada said after the Astros held on to win the series with two one-run wins. “Long 13-game stretch, and these guys, they fight till the end. So proud of this group.”
After getting shut down by José Soriano on Saturday, the Astros responded with 13 hits on Sunday, including a two-homer game from Mauricio Dubón. The Astros have an MLB-best 132 hits during these last 13 games dating back to June 10, with a team slash line of .289/.356/.476 and an .832 OPS that ranks fourth.
And they’re doing it without their best hitter, Yordan Alvarez, as well as a slew of other injuries on both sides of the baseball. Their top offseason free-agent signing, Christian Walker, has been underperforming, too.
So how do the Astros keep winning?
Part of that answer is obvious. The pitching staff, led by Framber Valdez (3.09 ERA) and Hunter Brown (1.88 ERA), has been stellar. The bullpen is (mostly) lights-out. And shortstop Jeremy Peña is putting together an All-Star caliber season.
But there are other key contributors whose excellence has gone more under the radar. That starts with center fielder Jake Meyers.
Batting in the two-hole for the third time in his career and first time this season, Meyers went 2-for-4 in Sunday’s finale, with two stolen bases, a sacrifice fly and a run scored. Both of his singles were scorched off the bat, with exit velocities of 102.1 mph and 100.5 mph.
“I put in a lot of work this offseason,” Meyers said. “[Astros hitting coach] Troy Snitker’s a big part of it, helped me kind of get ready for this year and kind of stuck to some of those things that we worked on, and I trust in it.”
Meyers' slash line is up to .310/.369/.407 (.776 OPS) on the season, and his 13 stolen bases in 76 games have already surpassed his total from last season, when he swiped 11 bags in 148 games. The 29-year-old is also in the midst of the best offensive month of his career, with a .357 batting average so far in June. He has a 10-game hitting streak.
Espada lauded Meyers’ pitch selection, especially in his sixth-inning sacrifice fly that scored Peña for the Astros’ crucial eighth run.
“My favorite at-bat of him today was that sac fly there -- that ended up being the winning run,” Espada said. “He finds ways to continue to drive the ball, using the whole field. His defense. It’s really good to see him turn a corner and becoming the player that he’s turning out to be.”
Espada had said pregame that he wanted to give third baseman Isaac Paredes, who usually bats second, an extra day of rest heading into Monday’s off-day. Paredes strained his left hamstring earlier this month but avoided an IL stint.
“Being cautious with his hamstring, even though he feels good, but I’ve got to be cautious,” Espada said before the finale, during which Paredes recorded a pinch-hit single in the ninth. “And getting Jake in there, swinging the bat really well. Trying to get him some extra at-bats, that’s the purpose of that move.”
Meyers said he “loved” batting second -- though Espada acknowledged that it would be temporary.
“It was a lot of fun. It feels like you’re hitting all the time,” Meyers said.
Meyers has also been stellar in the field. He made sensational diving catches in each of the first two games of the series. And his 7 outs above average are tied for the fourth-most among all MLB center fielders.
His teammates don’t take that for granted.
“He’s just so good in the outfield,” Peña said after Friday’s 3-2 win in extra innings. “It feels like he just glides through the air, and he gets to balls that not many outfielders do. He makes it look easy. … He does it every single day. Now he just gets up and throws the ball back in. He doesn’t even celebrate because he’s just like that.”
The Astros host the red-hot Phillies on Tuesday to begin a six-game homestand to close out June.