Astros news: The hidden positives in getting slaughtered by Padres

The Houston Astros were thoroughly decimated by the San Diego Padres, but don’t lose track of the seemingly small positives we saw from the game.

The Houston Astros got a taste of their own medicine giving up nine runs in the bottom of the first for Brandon Bielak‘s first loss of the year. It was the same total they put on the Colorado Rockies en route to their biggest run total of the year.

The Padres had already been hot coming into this series. They were making grand slams looks like pigeon crap under an awning and home runs like pigeon crap under a bridge. Far too common for my liking (in case you didn’t get the drift).

But if you stopped watching the game at any point, you may have missed a couple of small positives that got buried in the decimation.

The Houston Astros had some blossom pop up in the devastation

First of all, Jose Altuve got his fourth multi-hit game in a row. After going 2-5 in three straight games, he upped his own ante and went 3-4 with two doubles. It looked like prime Jose Altuve and just like that, his average is up to .221 and rising.

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We all know what happens when Altuve gets on a streak. Remember when he got a hit in ten straight at-bats? Yeah, he does too.

Getting Altuve going is definitely a trade-off I’d take for losing by double-digits in a single game. So count that one of the positives.

Also, Taylor Jones hit his first home run. The hulking DH has been asked to do the impossible and fill in for Yordan Alvarez, but thus far, while the numbers aren’t there yet, Jones has shown some excellent plate discipline, the ability to square up the ball, and now he has his first big fly, which opens the door to more, hopefully.

Getting Taylor Jones going is the bonus point we didn’t see coming and it would be a huge lift to be able to count on his bat going forward.

Lastly, Kyle Tucker stayed locked in. While he didn’t register a hit to continue his streak, he did work an at-bat into a walk in the first inning before the game got out of hand. I’m sorry, but if Kyle Tucker is walking, I’m happy. It means he’s seeing the ball well, and there are few things we need more than that.

Keep your head up. It’s one game, and we’ve got another one today.