HOUSTON -- The last thing Astros first baseman Christian Walker needed was his tough offensive series over the weekend in Seattle to carry over into Tuesday’s homestand opener against the Rockies. Walker made sure of that by cranking his fourth homer of the season in the second inning, setting the tone for another big offensive day for Houston.
Walker went 3-for-4, scored two runs and drove in two runs to lead the Astros to a 7-6 win at Daikin Park, snapping Houston’s eight-game losing streak. Even on days the Astros score seven runs -- a number they have reached in half of their 18 games this year -- their margin for error to win games is thin.
“You forget how hard it is to win a Major League game,” manager Joe Espada said. “It isn’t easy.”
Walker’s homer, which came off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, snapped an 0-for-11 drought that came on the heels of his terrific start to the season. He added singles in the fifth and seventh innings, giving him a .983 OPS through 72 plate appearances.
“His at-bats have been quality,” Espada said. “It’s like I like to remind our guys, the [Mariners] staff we saw a couple of days ago is pretty good. We put up some really good at-bats against them. … The process [Walker] has been on has been great. That’s a big home run. That pitch, he kept it fair. That pitch was up and in, but a lot of quality at-bats from everyone throughout the lineup.”
Walker’s early-season surge at the plate is one of the reasons why Houston’s offense entered Tuesday tied for the Major League lead in runs scored with the Dodgers. Coming off a disappointing first season in Houston in 2025 -- though he did lead the team in homers and RBIs -- Walker talked at length in the spring about changes to his swing path.
He’s trying to keep the bat higher and more direct to the ball to avoid swinging underneath fastballs and popping them up. Walker said when his posture is not in a good spot, his “bat path does weird things.” He wants his launch position to be more repeatable.
So far, Walker has been catching up to velocity and has been hitting the ball harder. His second-inning homer was a good example, and it set the tone for the night.
Walker turned on a Lorenzen slider that was high and tight and barreled it at 106.2 mph, sending it a Statcast-estimated 422 feet down the left-field line. The Astros sent 11 batters to the plate in the third to score six times, including a two-run double by Yordan Alvarez, to take a 7-3 lead.
“Momentum is a big part of this,” Walker said. “You think about stringing some good games together and getting the vibe back up. It could have been anybody, so it was good to get some energy going, for sure.”
Tuesday’s win, which was the Astros' sixth in a row at home, provided a blueprint of how they’re perhaps going to have to win games until they can get some stability in their rotation. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier were lost to shoulder strains on the road trip, and Tatsuya Imai has a tired arm, which has thinned the Astros’ pitching depth quickly.
Left-hander Colton Gordon was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land to make his first start for the Astros this year and was able to give them 3 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. Five relievers covered the final 5 1/3 innings, with Enyel De Los Santos striking out Jordan Beck looking to end the game and strand the tying run at third.
“Just to see those six runs [in the third], it was a relief,” Espada said. “It allowed Gordon to settle in a little bit, and we tried to get him through a few more innings. Our offense has been phenomenal. They understand the situation that we’re in. They continue to grind at-bats. Our bullpen came in and gave us some quality innings, [threw] a ton of strikes, big outs by quite a few guys there. This is a good win, big win.”