In a 162-game season, it is as silly to get excited about a five-game winning streak as it is to get depressed over losing the first 2 games of the season.
But there are some big takeaways from the Astros series sweep over the Red Sox, and we will break them down game by game.
Game 1 – Astros 8, Red Sox 1
Biggest takeaways
- A lot of fun things happened in this game, but the biggest takeaway was the “Return” of Lance McCullers Jr. He pitched brilliantly. He controlled the opposition. He went deep into the game when you consider how deep pitchers usually end up in their first starts of the season. And he toughed it out when he got into a jam in the seventh inning (his last). This start was a huge lift to the team and frankly to the fans. This is a Lance we have not seen pitch this way since his 8-game regular season return from injury in 2022.
- Good things happen when Jose Altuve picks and chooses what is a strike. During the broadcast the next night, they made a point that may be true. With the new ABS system out there, Jose may believe he can protest certain pitches rather than swing at them. I always felt they called his strike zone the worst on the team, probably due to his small stature. Well, after leading the team in walks early in the season, Altuve had a great game in the opener against the red hose, going 4-for-4 with two homers and a walk.
- Ryan Weiss, in his second outing, threw two scoreless innings with 3 Ks and allowed the rest of the bullpen to rest.
- Yordan Alvarez continued his torrid start with two hits, including a moonshot homer to right and two RBIs. Young and skinny Brice Matthews put a motor into one and hit a 434 ft homer – the longest in the majors up to that point.
Game 2 – Astros 9, Red Sox 2
Biggest takeaways
- The biggest takeaway may have been that the team forgot that Hunter Brown was pitching and kept up the offensive display as they extended their winning streak to four.
- But Hunter took a big step up from his good, not great, first start, both in length and quality. He started with four no-hit innings and ended with 6 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, and 8 Ks. He looked like someone who would be chasing that Cy Young Award this year.
- Someone named Cody Bolton had been brought up a few days ago, and the career journeyman with a 5.60 career ERA, pitched the last 3 innings and looked good doing it, allowing 1 run and putting up 5 Ks.
- Yordan (with a double and a home run) and Carlos Correa and Christian Walker (both with doubles) had 2 RBIs each.
- This win meant that the Astros would finish the next day with a series win and would stay above .500 even if they lost. But they would not lose.
Game 3 – Astros 6, Red Sox 4
Biggest takeaways
- The absolutely biggest takeaway from this game was that after the offense had gotten rolling against average or less pitching, they kept it going against a guy who is supposedly better than Hunter Brown. 2026 MLB ace rankings: Baseball’s best starting pitchers – ESPN ……Supposedly….
- Carlos Correa got down 1-2 with 2 outs in the fifth inning, the game tied and two ducks on the pond. He then launched the game-winning three-run homer that carried the team to its fifth straight win.
- Even though Bryan Abreu gave up a solo homer to the first hitter in the ninth on a backdoor slider, he then turned around and struck out the side with his velocity getting up as high as 97 mph. He seemed to have much better control, and that increased velocity. Hopefully, he is back.
- Yordan had two more hits and 2 runs scored. Isaac Paredes and Walker knocked him in.
- And that “other” catcher Christian Vazquez launched one in the seventh inning, which he had not done for the Astros since the 2022 championship run.
- Just to note – in 2025, the Astros had two 5 game winning streaks in June. Period. If the Astros win in Sacramento on Friday, they will have a longer streak than in all of 2025.
- Also note, that after being at the bottom of the hitting stats after two games, the team is one of the top 2 or 3 offenses in the majors now.
It was a great way to finish off the home stand with a sweep of the Red Sox. Now off to the West Coast. Stay tuned.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 