From 1 to 9, Astros' lineup clicking at the right time

HOUSTON -- Ever so slowly, the Astros’ offense is getting close to being at full strength. The return of outfielder Kyle Tucker on Friday from a three-month stint on the injured list with a shin contusion later revealed to be a fracture meant Houston had no more position players on the shelf.

Tucker was out of the lineup in Saturday afternoon’s 11-5 win over the Diamondbacks at Minute Maid Park, which is part of the plan for his return to play, and the club is monitoring the playing time of third baseman Alex Bregman, who’s battling right elbow inflammation.

At some point, Tucker and Bregman will be in the lineup together, along with Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Yainer Diaz -- a menacing top of the lineup. If the Astros can get contributions from shortstop Jeremy Peña and outfielder Chas McCormick like they did on Saturday, that’s bad news for the rest of the American League.

“Breggy, Yordan, Altuve, Tuck, Diaz,” Peña said. “It feels like one through nine in our lineup can beat you on any given day.”

Just ask the D-backs, who watched the Astros turn 13 hits and three walks into a long day at the ballpark for their pitching staff. Peña capped a five-run outburst in the sixth inning by hitting a three-run homer to right-center field, which put Houston up, 10-4.

“That was a big blow,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “That was the swing of the game right there. Driving that ball the opposite way, which is not easy in this ballpark to go oppo like that. But I thought overall our approach was really, really good today offensively. We hit a ton of balls [up the] middle and the other way.”

McCormick, who was demoted to Triple-A on Aug. 29 and recalled a few days later, continued his resurgence by going 2-for-4 with a clutch two-run single with the bases loaded in Houston’s four-run fourth inning.

“My first at-bat, I came up with an opportunity [runners at first and second] and didn’t come through, and then my second at-bat in the fourth inning, I had another big opportunity,” McCormick said. “I just faced [D-backs starter] Eduardo [Rodriguez] a couple of times and I kind of knew he liked his changeup against me, and I’m just happy I put the ball in play and knocked in two runs. I feel better. You get a new perspective when you get optioned. Just felt good. These guys keep giving me chances, and I’m just happy to come through today.”

McCormick has started five consecutive games since returning from his brief stint in Triple-A. He’s 6-for-18 with a double and looks and feels more comfortable at the plate. If he can keep that up the rest of the month and into October, that’s a huge development for the AL West-leading Astros.

“He’s starting to believe that it’s in there,” Espada said. “That’s what you want. It starts with opportunities, which I’m going to continue to give him opportunities, but also have confidence that you can do special things when you stay with your approach and you hit the ball the other way. You don’t panic when you get to two strikes. You get out of it by one pitch. That’s all you need. He’s starting to figure some stuff out.”

Every Astros starter either had a hit or scored a run Saturday, helping Houston to its sixth consecutive win at Minute Maid Park. The club sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth and had two hits and drew four walks, hitting the ball out of the infield just twice.

“That’s the offense that we’ve been in the past, and I hope that everything kind of clicks together. And if it comes together right now, this would be the right time,” Espada said. “We’re getting good at-bats by [Ben] Gamel, also. It stretches your lineup but also gives you options off the bench to use some of those guys. It becomes that much harder for the opposing manager to manage when you’ve got such a lineup and weapons on the bench you can use.”

The Astros improved to 7-0 in games started by Yusei Kikuchi, who was acquired from the Blue Jays at the Trade Deadline. He threw 99 pitches (67 strikes) in six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, including two homers, while striking out six batters. The four runs allowed were his most in a Houston uniform, but the Astros’ offense made sure it didn’t matter.