By Brian McTaggart | April 23, 2023
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ATLANTA: The Astros didn’t have to make any statements. They have nothing to prove to anyone in baseball, having won the World Series last year and competed in three other fall classics in the past five seasons. Simply put, they are one of the most successful franchises in the game right now.
Another slow start to this season — in line with the trend of the last three years — and injuries to key players Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr. perhaps showed the Astros were a little more vulnerable this year. Or maybe it just took them a few weeks to click on all cylinders.
The Astros reminded everyone of their heavyweight status by charging into Truist Field and sweeping three games off the red-hot Braves, coming from behind three times in the process. On Sunday, they netted twice in the eighth and three in the ninth to win 5-2, their fourth straight win of the season.
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“I thought we played a lot better baseball this series than we’ve ever played,” said third baseman Alex Bregman. “I thought it was a great team win today, and basically every three days. We played good baseball and we hope to continue.”
Yordan Alvarez leveled the game with a two-out, two-run single in the eighth off lefty reliever AJ Minter, earning him 27 RBIs in 20 games, and rookie Corey Julks made it 2-2 with a pinch hit in the ninth. Draw, two singles from Minter. Bregman added a two-run single for some insurance runs for the Astros, who are 12-2 if they score at least five runs.
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“Look at her resume,” Minter said. “You could argue that they’ve been the best team in baseball in the last five years. They’re not giving up.”
The Astros improved to 5-1 at a challenging period in their schedule, with string wins over the Blue Jays (2-1) and Braves (3-0). Next up in St. Petersburg is a series against the 19-3 Rays, who are 13-0 at home this year and have the best record in baseball.
“They’re a very good ball club,” Bregman said. “You can obviously see it in their record and it will be two good teams playing each other. We have a bunch of really good teams playing each other, starting with Toronto and then a really good Braves team. I look forward to coming to Tampa and getting started.”
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The biggest at-bat of the game was Julks’ vs. Minter in the ninth. With a 2-tie in the game and runners in first and second place and two outs, Julks hit catcher Martín Maldonado and fell 1-2 behind before making a 2-2 exchange in the middle and Kyle Tucker scoring Second with the starting gun.
“I was just trying to stay ready, see what the pitcher had and try to make a solid plan should I show up,” Julks said. “I tried to read him well, feel for him and tried to get executed.”
The Astros beat the Braves 11-0 in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings of the series. They have outplayed all opponents, 54-31, in seventh through ninth place this year.
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“In most games, if you can win the seventh, eighth, ninth, that puts you back in the game if you’re behind and gives you a relatively comfortable lead with fewer outs in the ballgame,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
Julks, the 27-year-old rookie who was surprisingly included in the opening day roster, clapped his hands and clenched his fist as he reached first base in a rare display of emotion.
“Yeah, that kind of came over me,” said Julks, who is cutting .327/.333/.491 with two homers and seven RBIs in his first 55 at-bats in the major leagues. “It was definitely an exciting moment.”
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Braves starter Max Fried kept the Astros scoreless for 6 2/3 innings and allowed three hits, while Astros starter Cristian Javier hit 10 batters in six innings and huffed seven straight during one stretch. Houston’s bullpen threw 9 1/3 hitless innings in the series, with 11 strikeouts and three walks.
“We made a lot of mistakes [on the bases]’ said Baker. “We were lucky to win. Corey fouled some difficult pitches and came up the middle with this single. That was great, those reassurances from Breggy. That was a big streak to win.”