HOUSTON -- The injuries that have devastated the Astros’ roster in the first quarter of the season have provided opportunities for others. Among those are rookies Braden Shewmake, Brice Matthews and Zach Cole, who have been tasked with trying to turn over the bottom of Houston’s lineup for mainstays Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker.
Shewmake, Matthews and Cole had their fingerprints all over the Astros’ 4-3 win over the Mariners in 10 innings Wednesday night at Daikin Park, with Cole ripping a single past a drawn-in infield to score Matthews from third base and send the Astros to their first walk-off win of the season, snapping a four-game losing streak.
“Seven hits between those three guys, big RBIs,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “[They’re] getting guys over, getting guys in. Big contribution from the bottom of our order. The young players are taking advantage of these opportunities they’re getting right now. This is fun to watch.”
Shewmake, acquired in a trade with the Yankees on April 19, has been getting the bulk of the starts at shortstop since Carlos Correa suffered a season-ending ankle injury 10 days ago. He went 2-for-5 on Wednesday and is hitting .364/.364/.636 with three home runs in 13 games with Houston.
“I've always known it's in there, been in there,” said Shewmake, a former first-round pick of the Braves. “I just hadn't swung the bat very good the last couple years, and just needed to fine-tune some things and get back to what I do good, and I feel like I've gotten back to that. And this coaching staff here has all been great, all on board with that, and we work every day to just groove that swing.”
Matthews, a first-round pick by the Astros in 2023 out of Nebraska -- and the first pick made by general manager Dana Brown in Houston -- has been getting most of the playing time in center following injuries to Jake Meyers (oblique), Joey Loperfido (right quad strain) and Taylor Trammell (left groin strain).
He snapped an 0-for-12 drought with singles in the fifth and sixth innings Wednesday and scored the tying run in the eighth inning on an Altuve sac fly. He began the 10th as the automatic runner, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Cole’s walk-off single.
“I feel like I’ve been feeling pretty good for a little bit,” Matthews said. “I just didn’t have the results to show for it. It hasn’t deterred me. Just keeping focus on just trying to be better each and every day.”
Then there’s Cole, the team’s No. 9-ranked prospect who provided a jolt to the lineup last season in his Major League debut on Sept. 12 in Atlanta, when he became the fifth player in club history to homer in his first Major League plate appearance.
Cole didn’t make the club out of camp after going 8-for-40 in Grapefruit League play with 20 strikeouts. He was struck by a pitch in the third game of the season at Triple-A Sugar Land and broke his pinkie toe, sidelining him for about a month. He was 3-for-4 on Wednesday, and was struck on the left foot by a pitch in the eighth, but wasn’t injured.
“Today, I felt much more on time than I have in previous [at-bats],” he said. “I’m trying to remind myself I’m just a little over 20 at-bats at this point in the year for me. These guys, almost 150 for some of them. For me, just getting started. I haven’t even been here two weeks but a lot of good signs with a lot of the adjustments we’ve been making with our hitting staff, and hopefully we can continue those. Also a lot of things we need to continue to work on as the season progresses, but I feel confident where I’m at right now.”
When he came to the plate in the 10th inning, Cole initially tried to bunt Matthews to third, but a wild pitch did the job for him. He worked the count to 3-2 against Alex Hoppe and fouled off a pitch before hitting a slider past diving first baseman Josh Naylor for the game-winner.
‘“It feels awesome,” Cole said. “I’m just glad we got a win. It doesn't matter if it comes from me or anyone else, we want to get some momentum back and our team feels great and we’re going to ride momentum as this week progresses.”