HOUSTON -- The Astros are glad to have their designated hitter back.
After capping a strenuous 2-6 road trip by splitting the first two of their four-game series vs. the D-backs in Arizona's National League park, Chase Field, they returned to cozy, hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park and got a 9-5 win over the D-backs with help from DH Carlos Beltran.
"He was bored the last couple of days in the National League park," said manager A.J. Hinch. "It was nice to give him four good at-bats, and he'll be back in there tomorrow."
"Happy to be in the lineup," Beltran said. "Happy to be able to win this first game here in this homestand. There's no doubt that we [didn't play] well on this road trip that we just finished."
Beltran drummed his longest homer this season -- projected at 438 feet, according to Statcast™ -- into the second deck in right field, pushing the Astros to a 1-0 lead in the second inning. In the next inning, he plated Jose Altuve with a sacrifice fly. He added an infield single in the seventh for his 25th multihit game this season.

"He was awesome," said Hinch. "He set the tone early with the big home run. That's probably as far as he hit a ball this year. Then the sac fly was good."
The two-RBI night gave Beltran 1,584 and ties him for 41st all time with Harmon Killebrew and Rogers Hornsby. His home run was the 435th of his career, carrying him past Juan Gonzalez and Andruw Jones for 46th all-time.
The Astros are 52-29 in games with Beltran as their DH, and having that DH spot in the lineup on Wednesday helped them to win consecutive games for the first time since July 24-25 against the Phillies.
"It's a good feeling every time you're capable of doing something positive to help the team win," Beltran said.