Astros Finally Break The 10-Run Curse

If there are two things fans of the Astros dread: they are this, games against a bad starting pitcher and games the day after scoring 10 runs.

With Adam Wainwright sporting a 6.56 ERA taking the hill for St. Louis on Thursday evening, and the Astros coming off of a 10-7 victory on Wednesday, six shutout innings for Wainwright wouldn't have been a surprise.

The Astros finally broke their 10-run curse, drubbing the Cardinals 14-0.

Houston chased Wainwright after 1.2 innings. They pushed six runs across with two outs in the second inning. Jose Altuve singled home a run before Kyle Tucker singled home two. José Abreu continued his resurgence with a double down the line to plate two runs and Yainer Diaz doubled in Abreu. The Astros had batted around in the inning and Wainwright's day was done.

For J.P. France, the run support was a nice change of pace. France came into last night 2-3 with a 3.54 ERA. He had taken back-to-back losses while allowing a total of five runs. He strung together seven scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and walking two.

Kyle Tucker tacked on a three-run home run in the top of the 6th, giving him five RBI for the night.

With a 10-0 lead in the top of the 9th, Alex Bregman strode into the box against Alec Burleson, a position player. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Bregman added insult to injury, tagging his third Grand Slam of the season and second of the week.

Bregman's OPS is up to .758 this season. The return to form for José Abreu, who has hit .294 with five home runs and a .835 OPS this month, and Bregman have been vital in keeping Houston afloat without Yordan Alvarez.

With such a big lead, Abreu and Jose Altuve's nights wrapped up early, with both being pulled in the sixth. Abreu finished 1-3 with two RBI and a walk while Altuve was 1-2 with two walks, two runs and an RBI.

The Astros now turn to their biggest series of the season so far, with a four-game series up next at Texas. The Rangers can flat out mash, so Houston will need to keep this offensive production coming.