The Astros have been ahead or tied in the seventh inning of all six games they’ve played this season.

They’re 1-5, including Tuesday night gut-punch 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

So obviously there is trouble in River City. A team is its record. But there’s nothing about the Astros that won’t correct itself over the long haul. A 1-5 start is worrisome to be sure, but it’s not a death knell. There will be more 0-4 losing streaks and 1-5 stretches over a 162-game season.

The weirdest thing swirling around sports talk radio, mainly on the caller side of the dialog is … did the Astros make a mistake letting former manager Dusty Baker go and hiring inexperienced Joe Espada?

Let’s set the record straight - that is crazy talk.

Remember last season when fickle, memory-challenged fans groaned when Baker insisted on starting Martin Maldonado at catcher over hot-hitting rookie Yanier Diaz? Baker said that one day Diaz would thank him for that. Remember the frustration with Baker, seemingly in a pique of ego, sitting Chas McCormick? Remember Baker dissing the fans during talk show appearances, saying “if you listen to the fans, pretty soon you’ll be sitting with them?” It’s OK for a manager to think that, just don’t say it.

So while the Astros 1-5 record is down, let’s look up.

Yanier Diaz is hitting.476. Fans have practically turned him into a folk hero. They remember last year how Dusty, some might say, took out his anger with management by sitting Diaz on the bench. During Tuesday night’s “Fan Poll” on the Astros telecast, the question was, which player’s fast start has you most excited? The overwhelming winner was Yanier Diaz.

Meanwhile, Maldonado is up to his old tricks in Chicago where he is batting a robust .000 with no hits in 11 at bats as the White Sox starting catcher. It’s not a challenge to imagine, if Baker had been retained in Houston, that Maldy would be the starting catcher here with Diaz wasting away again.

The starting pitching, thought to be a weakness heading into the season, has been excellent. The rotation’s earned run average, including Ronel Blanco’s no-hitter Monday and Framber Valdez’s seven-plus inning of shutout ball Tuesday, is at the top of all MLB teams.

Jose Altuve is back doing Jose Altuve things. Jeremy Pena is hitting .381 and fielding lights out. Kyle Tucker is hitting .318 and ready to break the Astros bank for a long-term deal.

This isn’t to ignore the fact that Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman need to get their bats going, and the bullpen better get its act together. The bullpen, supposedly the Astros strength especially in the seventh inning on, is a crime scene.

But the most glaring sore thumb is at first base where Jose Abreu is becoming the Astros 2024 version of Martin Maldonado 2.0.

Abreu, who signed a three-year $58.5 million contract with the Astros last year, is batting .105, with only two singles, no RBI and six strikeouts in 19 at-bats. In 2024, coming off the worst season of his career last year, Abreu is a no-tool guy. It’s painful watching Abreu flail at low outside pitches. He has difficulty catching up to big league fastballs. Fans groan at him striking out with runners on base in key spots, like Tuesday night in the ninth inning. He looks done.

How much longer will Espada stick with Abreu? Earlier this week, on a national broadcast, an announcer was lauding Abreu’s grit, saying, “He refuses to miss a game.” Seriously? Who’s minding the store around here? I heard a fan tell me, while defending Abreu mind you … “his replacement is worse.”

Will Espada die on the Jose Abreu Hill like Baker did last year with Maldonado?