Houston Astros raising eyebrows with sudden roster move to reinforce offense
STONE COLD 'STROS
07 August 2023
The Houston Astros are coming off a series split against the New York Yankees, with the AL leading Baltimore Orioles next on the schedule.
While the Astros are still in a good spot with their pitching (2nd in team ERA), the offense continues to be the group struggling for consistency. Houston has now fallen to 15th in team OPS and slugging, with several players going through a tough stretch right now.
While many have been quick to point at Jeremy Pena's issues as of late, he actually has more hits than Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu combined over the last seven games.
Astros GM Dana Brown made it clear before the All-Star break that the team would like to add a left-handed bat to the roster, but Brown wasn't able to find a trade that wouldn't include an Astro on the current major league roster.
But the Astros do have Jon Singleton in Triple A hitting the cover off the ball with an OPS over 1100 in his 33 games with the Space Cowboys. According to reports, he is heading to Baltimore to join the Astros with Corey Julks being optioned back to Sugar Land.
Can Singleton provide a much-needed spark down the stretch for Houston? If he hits well in his limited opportunities, perhaps he can get some starts at first base from time to time, and give Jose Abreu some much-needed rest.
Be sure to watch the video above as we break it all down.
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Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning to move into second place on Houston's career hits list and the Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Wednesday night to win their 12th straight series.
Jose Altuve DRVIES IN 2 ... and passes Jeff Bagwell for 2nd in career hits with the @astros#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/IcLVdy5iOn
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) July 3, 2025
Altuve went 2 for 5 and gave the Astros a 4-2 lead with his 2,315th career hit, moving him past Jeff Bagwell. Craig Biggio leads the franchise with 3,060 career hits.
Altuve spoke about his relationship with Bagwell, and more after the game.
Jose Altuve got a congratulatory text message postgame from Jeff Bagwell after passing him on the Astros’ all-time hits list. pic.twitter.com/KtKk28SZEt
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 3, 2025
Hunter Brown (9-3) allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out eight to join Lance McCullers Jr. as the only Astros pitchers to reach 500 in their first 86 appearances.
Bennett Sousa pitched the ninth for his third save.
Jake Meyers had a one-out double off Austin Gomber in the first and Altuve and Cam Smith followed with back-to-back singles for a 1-0 lead in the first.
Rookie Shay Whitcomb hit his first home run 451 feet to left-center field for a 2-0 lead in the second.
SHAY WHITCOMB! FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HOMER! #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/zHfQUuIXnS
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 3, 2025
Cooper Hummel singled and Mauricio Dubón drew a walk off reliever Angel Chivilli (1-4) in the sixth. Altuve drove a two-out pitch from Jake Bird to center to score both. Smith followed with an RBI single for a 5-2 lead.
Cam makes it 5-2 Astros! #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/j4xMIaY62F
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 3, 2025
Thairo Estrada went 3 for 4 and singled and scored ahead of Mickey Moniak's 12th home run to tie it 2-2 in the Rockies' second.
Gomber allowed two runs on eight hits in five innings.
Houston has won three in a row and 16 of 21.
Key moment
Brown struck out Hunter Goodman in the third for No. 500 and then fanned Jordan Beck swinging on a 99.8 mph fastball — his fastest this season — to end the inning.
Key stat
The Rockies have lost all 14 series at home, dropping the first two games 13 times.
Up next
Astros LHP Brandon Walter (1-1, 3.34 ERA) starts Thursday's series finale opposite Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-9, 5.56).
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