WEST SACRAMENTO -- Seven of the Astros’ first nine hitters in Saturday’s game against the A’s reached base, which provided a glimpse of what kind of day it was going to be at Sutter Health Park. The Astros filled the base paths with traffic the entire game and enjoyed one of the best offensive outputs in club history in an 11-0 win.
The Astros bashed out a season-high 18 hits, drew 13 walks in a game for the first time since 2000 and needed just two homers -- Christian Walker and Cam Smith both clubbed their first of the season -- to post their largest margin of victory this year. After starting the season 0-2, Houston is averaging 8.3 runs per game in its last seven games (6-1).
Houston had 32 runners reach base (they had one hit by pitch), one shy of the club record of 33 set in 1976. The 13 walks are tied for the fifth-most overall and are third-most in a nine-inning game in club history.
A’s pitchers were forced to throw 200 pitches to the Astros.
“That’s unbelievable,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “It’s not going to be like that every day, but we need to continue to preach it because when we do it right, this is the outcome. You get pitchers out in the fifth inning and now all of a sudden we get in the bullpen and tomorrow we have a really good shot to win the series. We’re doing what we’re supposed to do. Credit to the guys. They’re buying in.”
If you’ve paid attention, you know the Astros brought in two new hitting coaches in the offseason and added an offensive coordinator and stressed working counts and drawing walks. They’ve drawn 50 walks in nine games (5.6 walks per game). Last year, they averaged 2.9 walks per game and strayed from their patient approach that had been one of their traits in years past.
The Astros are also taking advantage when pitchers come into the zone. They were 8-for-28 with runners in scoring position Saturday, marking their most at-bats with runners in scoring position since June 9, 2023.
“Controlled aggression is the phrase I’ve heard being thrown around,” Walker said. “Right now, the analytics team, those guys, are making it very clear how these guys are going to pitch to us and you go out there in the first and things seem to match up, it’s easy to trust the plan and it makes everything easier. Credit to research and development for getting us the right info.”
Walker, Joey Loperfido, Yainer Diaz and Christian Vázquez each had three hits, and Yordan Alvarez tied his career high by drawing four walks -- in his first four plate appearances. He added an RBI in the sixth inning that pushed Houston’s lead to 10-0 and has a 1.475 OPS through nine games.
“I think it’s just another layer of trust in this lineup and how good we can be when we’re executing,” Walker said.