Astros welcome Altuve with a win

The Astros threw a nice welcome party for second baseman Jose Altuve, who played in his first major league game, with a win over the Nationals 3-2 in extra innings. It has been a month since the Astros won back to back games and won a series. What is even more surprising is the Astros haven’t won a series at home since the end of May when they beat the LA Dodgers.

Brett Myers did a good job today keeping the Astros in the game going seven innings and only giving up two runs, which came on a home run by Jayson Werth. He did give up eight hits but struck out four and kept his walks down, only giving up two. A game like today can only help Myers’ trade value. Wilton Lopez got the win who pitched the two extra innings, giving up only one hit and striking out three.

The offense did just enough to get the win today after scoring seven last night. The Astros had three hits in the 11th, the walk-off hit coming from Jason Michaels who brought Humberto Quintero home on a single to center field. The Astros scored a run in the first and second, off hits by Carlos Lee and Humberto Quintero respectively, and then had to wait nine innings for the game winning run.

Even newbie Jose Altuve got in the action today, collecting his first major league hit and finished the day 1 for 5 with only one strikeout. I am excited about Altuve and hope he can provide some stability to the second base position, something the Astros haven’t had since Craig Biggio retired.

The Astros get a day off tomorrow before they embark on a nine game road trip with their first stop in Chicago to take on the Cubs. They will be looking to extend their longest win streak of July.