Astros 'in a good spot now' at the break after surge

HOUSTON -- Considering the Astros were 12 games under .500 in early May, 10 games out of first place in the American League West in mid-June and have suffered tons of injuries, the fact they hit the All-Star break in good position to make a run at another division title is rather remarkable.

That momentum wasn’t slowed much after closing out the first half of their schedule with consecutive close losses to the Rangers, who used a pair of two-run homers from Josh Smith to thump the Astros, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Houston hits the All-Star break at 50-46 and just a game back of Seattle in the West, which means the Astros have come a long way from their early-season funk.

"I’m proud of the effort and the way we have come out of it," first-year manager Joe Espada said. "We dug ourselves a big hole in the beginning of the season. We find ourselves in a position to make a push in the second half and go to Seattle [next weekend] with some momentum. We played really, really well the last four or five weeks. I know the guys are ready for a little break here, and we’re all excited about a strong second half."

The Astros went 17-6 in their final 23 games before the break, averaging six runs per game despite not having All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker, an early Most Valuable Player candidate, in the lineup. He’s been out since June 3 with a shin contusion.

Sunday’s loss to the Rangers was reminiscent of the Houston team that started 12-24 in that they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, including not being able to get the ball out of the infield with the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth. Texas had only three hits, including the homers by Smith in the first and eighth innings.

For the first time since April 28-29, 1995, the Astros lost back-to-back games when giving up a combined seven hits or fewer.

"We had opportunities there to score a couple of runs,” Espada said. “They executed some good pitches. We were just missing good pitches. We got the traffic when we needed to, we got the guys we wanted at the plate and it just didn’t happen. It didn't go our way."

Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco finished the first half of his breakout season by throwing his team-leading 11th quality start of the year. He gave up two runs and two hits and struck out five batters in six innings to lower his ERA to 2.56 in 109 innings pitched.

The emergence of Blanco and the resurgence of Hunter Brown have picked up a pitching rotation that’s been decimated by injuries in the half of the season, which only makes Houston’s climb in the standings more incredible. The Astros currently have four starting pitchers on the injured list, including ace Justin Verlander, as well as Cristian Javier and José Urquidy, who both had Tommy John surgery and are out of the season.

"We have been able to find ways to win,” Espada said. "It speaks about our depth and our toughness as a group and we all believe that we can win. We needed everyone here to come together and push through this. We have to find ways to continue to play together.”

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman credited Espada for keeping the team believing in itself early in the season.

"He stayed the same guy every day, showed up at the yard ready to work and ready to complete and didn’t panic,” he said. “He knew that we needed to play better baseball and constantly reminded us of how good of a ballclub we are. We’re in a good spot now."

Indeed.

The Astros will open the second half with a huge three-game series at Seattle beginning Friday. They hope to get Tucker back by the end of the month, and Verlander (neck) threw 25 pitches in the bullpen Sunday and could return sometime in August.

What’s more, general manager Dana Brown has said he will work to add a starting pitcher and a bat at the July 30 Trade Deadline, setting the Astros up for a push for their eighth consecutive playoff berth.

“The last three weeks, we’ve been clicking and playing well in all three phases and when we do that, we’re a really good team,” Bregman said.