HOUSTON -- It’s been well-documented how the recent returns of injured pitchers Hunter Brown and Josh Hader from the injured list have provided the Astros a shot in the arm. But just imagine if pitcher Tatsuya Imai turns the corner and finds some consistency, and if second baseman Jose Altuve returns to his All-Star-level status at the plate in the second half of the season.
The Astros provided a glimpse of what they can become if two of their biggest underperforming stars get going. Imai rebounded from a disastrous performance by striking out a career-high 11 batters in six innings, while Altuve bashed a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning in a 9-3 win over the Guardians on Friday night at Daikin Park.
The Astros (36-41) are five games under .500 for the first time since they were 8-13 on April 17. They’ve gone 17-11 since May 19 and are suddenly just three games behind the first-place Mariners (39-38) in the American League West.
“I like where we are,” Altuve said.
Imai, who recorded only two outs in his previous start a week earlier in Kansas City, retired the final 11 batters he faced after giving up a two-run homer to Rhys Hoskins in the third. He set a career high with 20 whiffs, including 17 on his slider, and gave up six hits and three runs.
"I think he threw a lot more sliders than typical,” Hoskins said. “It's kind of a weird slider, too, not super typical from what we see. But he landed, I think, enough early on strikes-wise that it felt like we maybe needed to honor it more. … He just did a good job with that pitch specifically tonight and kept us off balance."
The 11 strikeouts without a walk are the most by a Houston pitcher since Yusei Kikuchi struck out 12 without a walk on Aug. 31, 2024, against the Royals.
“He came in today and wanted to show he’s better [than his Kansas City performance],” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Today he showed he’s something that when his stuff is on, he can be unhittable.”
Imai has some elite weapons, but his inconsistency and wildness at times have overshadowed his good outings. This was the third time this year he’s thrown at least six innings – and the first with no walks – but he’s failed to finish the first inning twice. Still, the Astros are 6-4 in games he’s started.
That includes a win last Friday in Kansas City when he gave up five runs in two-thirds of an inning after Houston built him a 9-0 lead before he even threw a pitch.
“I had to reset my mind after the Kansas City outing,” Imai said.
Hoskins’ homer put Cleveland ahead, 3-1, in the top of the third, but Jeremy Peña hit the first of his two solo homers in the bottom half of the inning. Then Altuve greeted reliever Matt Festa with a three-run homer on his first pitch in the sixth, a line-drive shot in the Crawford Boxes that put the Astros ahead, 5-3.
A frustrated Altuve slammed his helmet and tossed his bat after striking out against Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee in the first inning in a rare show of emotion. He was visibly upset when he struck out looking against Bibee once again in the fourth, but his homer and eventual RBI double in the seventh turned the game and his mood around.
“He was pissed,” Espada said. “He knows he’s better than what he is showing right now, and he’s getting to the point where he wants to come through for the team and we know it’s eventually going to happen. I love the fact he threw his helmet, by the way. That really fired me up.”
Altuve, who came off the injured list June 5 after missing three weeks with a left oblique strain, drove in a season-high four runs and has three homers in his past five games. He was in a 4-for-34 slump with 14 strikeouts before rocketing his eighth homer of the season into the Crawford Boxes, which was his first hit with runners in scoring position since May 4.
“Obviously, I’m a little frustrated about how my season is going,” he said. “I kind of reflected on that in my first and second at-bats, but thank God I could get a big homer and a double today to help the team win, and hopefully it creates some momentum and we keep winning.”