Carter displaying less pop at Minute Maid Park

HOUSTON -- Astros slugger Chris Carter had a big series against the White Sox in Chicago, hitting .500 (6-for-12) with three homers and six RBIs. He's hitting .313 with five homers and 17 RBIs in his last 13 road games since Aug. 4.

The success away from home is nothing new for Carter, who has been much better on the road this year than he has at home. He's hitting .271 with 17 homers and 49 RBIs in 62 road games and entered Thursday hitting .160 with nine homers and 21 RBIs in 59 home games.

"It's a fluke," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "It's not like we have five or six years of information to go by. This is his first opportunity in which he's played every day, and I think it's just a fluke that he has better numbers on the road then he does at home. It's one of those things for me, you look at the dimensions of our ballpark and you see how short the wall out there is in left field, and you say to yourself, 'Wow, if this guy were to pull the ball, he's maybe going to hit 40 home runs instead of 30.' As time goes on, we'll have more information."

That being said, the Astros aren't focusing on Carter pulling the ball. He leads the league and has set an Astros record with 179 strikeouts, and Porter said it comes down to being on time with the fastball.

"If you look at the course of the season, the ups and downs in which he's had, and you look at the number of strikeouts, the strikeouts haven't happened on strike three," Porter said. "They've happened in strike one and strike two, and the majority of the time it's not being on time with the fastball. When he's on time with the fastball, the majority of time he hits for left-center or left field."