A night of career milestones help take care of business for the Astros, clinching series win in Denver

Jose Altuve’s sixth-inning go-ahead two-run single, which put him in sole second place in on the franchise career hits list with 2,315 hits, provided the difference in the Houston Astros’ 5-3 series-clinching win over the lowly Colorado Rockies on Wednesday at Coors Field.

See video and tweet here: Altuve’s 2,315th hit

@Trev_b27 capturing Tuve’s hit in person at Coors, I met this guy at the Big 12 tournament, he’s from Houston and goes to University of Kansas*

The win gave Houston its 16th of its last 20 games, its 12th straight series win or split, and its seventh straight head-to-head victory over Colorado.

Despite RHP Hunter Brown’s curveball being tested by the high-altitude elements of Coors Field, he held on for six innings having only given up a second inning game-tying two-run homer to center fielder Mickey Moniak and three hits by second baseman Thairo Estrada (for which he remains perfect in his career off Brown), en route to earning his first winning decision in four starts to improve to 9-3 on his season and maintaining a league-leading 1.82 ERA.

Astros_numbers on X, view tweet here:

Right fielder Cam Smith, who continues to hover around the top 10 in the majors for high-leverage OPS, cashed in two times for Houston with RBI singles in the first and sixth innings.

Designated hitter Shay Whitcomb, fresh off a recall from AAA Sugar Land to take the spot of Jeremy Pena while on his IL stint, showed he was no stranger to high-altitude environments from his Pacific Coast League experience and clubbed his first major league homer 451 feet to left center to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the road second.

In the fifth, first baseman Christian Walker’s two-out single gave him a 20-game head-to-head hitting streak against the Rockies, which started during his tenure at Arizona.

Part of what set the table for the two-out scoring opportunities in the sixth was center fielder Jake Meyers taking a 93.6 mph sinker near the ribs from RHP Jake Bird and looking in obvious pain. Despite this, he was able to score swiftly on Smith’s single, and hustle down the line on a 6-3 groundout in the eighth.

With Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu unavailable, LHP Bennett Sousa, fresh off an inning of work in a decisive winning effort the night prior, was called upon for the save opportunity. After conceding a run with a 4-6-3 double play and dealing with three bloop singles in the ninth, Sousa held on for his third save of the season.

Takeaways

For the most part, it was pleasant seeing that with the same number of opportunities with runners in scoring position as the night prior, there were five successful attempts. That, along with lefty bullpen pieces like Bryan King, Steven Okert and Sousa continuing to shine outside of setup Abreu and closer Hader whether they are available or not, led to the Astros Road record being evened up at 20-20 on the season and continued to spark some comparisons to the 2022 season.

In an attempt for the sweep in Denver and climbing to a winning road record, LHP Brandon Walter will take the hill for the Astros opposite LHP Kyle Freeland on a getaway day before the back half of the NL West road trip at Dodger Stadium.