HOUSTON -- MLB hits leader Jose Altuve is wondering what's off with his Astros over the past week. While scoring nine runs in back-to-back games against the D-backs, they were also shut out twice by Arizona -- including a 4-0 loss Thursday at Minute Maid Park -- and scored a total of 20 runs in their past five games, below their 5.71 runs per game this season.
"I see my guys play and they look good," Altuve said. "But if I see myself playing, I haven't been so good in the last five days. Even during the game, I was thinking about going home tonight and [thinking] about it."
Going back farther, Houston has lost 16 of 28 games and dropped or split five or its last six series.
"It's been tough," said Marwin Gonzalez. "Obviously you're going to get to this point at some point in the season. It's just a matter of when is it. ... You cannot go out there and win 162 games. I think we're going to be OK. This is our bad time. All the teams go through this."

Carlos Correa's absence left the Astros short a bat in the heart of their order since he hit the disabled list on July 18 -- 28 games ago -- with a torn ligament in his left thumb. Houston's lineup wasn't helped either when All-Star George Springer (quad), replacement third baseman Colin Moran (facial fractures), Evan Gattis (concussion) and Brian McCann (knee) landed on the DL as well.
With Springer back in the Astros' order, the injuries -- not including high-leverage reliever Will Harris and All-Star Lance McCullers among three other pitchers on the DL -- have left the Astros more than without just Correa's bat through their roughest stretch this season.
Since Correa was sidelined, the Red Sox are 17-9, inching closer toward the Astros' top spot in the American League at an AL East-best 69-51. The AL Central-leading Indians are 66-53 heading into a three-game set against the Royals, and the Yankees are 65-55 and four games behind the Red Sox in their division.
Now, with the race for the AL's top spot as close as it's been in weeks, Houston is ahead of Boston by fewer than five games.
But at 74-47, the Astros aren't ready to panic.
"We're going to be OK," Gonzalez said.