Altuve unfazed by Astros' cold start: 'Tomorrow's another day'

ARLINGTON -- The wisest words that were spoken inside the visiting clubhouse at Globe Life Field on Saturday night came from, not surprisingly, the longest-tenured Astros player, second baseman Jose Altuve.

Altuve has seen a little bit of everything in his 14-year career, which began when he was a youngster on a team that lost at least 106 games three years in a row and evolved to see him become a cornerstone player on a club that’s won four American League pennants, including two World Series titles, in the previous seven seasons.

So when Altuve talks, people listen, or at least they should. Despite losing to the Rangers for the second night in a row, 7-2, to fall to 2-7 on the season, Altuve said the sky isn’t falling.

"Start of the season doesn't define the season you’re going to have,” said Altuve, who had three hits. “We still have 150-something games more, and I know a lot of things can happen and we can make things turn around.”

What gives Altuve reasons for optimism? The Astros began the season with a tough schedule and their starting pitching has been solid, despite having four starters on the injured list to begin the season. J.P. France came within one out of a quality start Saturday, allowing three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in his second start of the year.

“J.P. threw the ball really well and gave us a chance to win,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “A lot of people were on base and we couldn’t get the big hits. That was the biggest part, that J.P. threw the ball very well and we couldn’t get some big outs when we needed to.”

France utilized his changeup against a potent Rangers lineup with six left-handed bats and allowed only three hard-hit balls (exit velocity over 95 mph). Five of the eight hits he allowed left bats at an exit velocity of 78.6 mph or less.

“I kept telling myself the whole outing, ‘Just take it one pitch at a time.’ Just not getting too ahead of myself, just making good pitches throughout,” France said. “If a guy gets on it makes it a little more difficult working out of trouble, but I kept telling myself, ‘One pitch at a time,’ and it made me commit to making good, quality pitches.”

France left the game tied at 2-2 and watched one of the runners he had on base come around to score. The Rangers tacked on four runs against Ryan Pressly in the eighth inning to thwart any chance of a Houston comeback. The Astros’ bullpen, which was considered their biggest strength coming into the season, has a 7.31 ERA in 28 1/3 innings.

The only two runs the Astros scored were unearned. They came on a two-out fielding error by Rangers shortstop Corey Seager in the third inning. Houston was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The top four hitters in the order combined to go 8-for-17 while the rest of the order was 0-for-18.

“Our top four hitters got [hits] eight times today, and that’s exactly what the lineup is designed to do, to give up opportunities,” Espada said. “We just couldn’t get a big hit from the guys in the middle of the lineup. Again, I have a ton of confidence in those guys in there. That’s a good offense. It’s a matter of time before we start getting those big hits.”

Altuve, who has hit safely in all nine games this season and is batting .378, wants everyone to take a deep breath. There’s too much talent in the Houston clubhouse for the team not to find its stride sooner rather than later.

“Like I said, we are a good team, as well,” he said. “Tomorrow’s another day to try to make things happen.”