The Houston Astros are doing their best to pay homage to “Kill Bill: Volume 2,” as they continue to smash their way through the coffin and try to climb themselves out of the huge hole they found themselves in earlier in the season. There is still work to be done– the club is 37-40 and four and a half games short of an American League Wild Card position– but it is looking like its old, dangerous self.
Despite being without a large chunk of its starting rotation, Houston is getting crucial innings from breakout veteran Ronel Blanco and young Hunter Brown. The bullpen is beginning to emerge as well, with Josh Hader bouncing back from a rough April and flaunting his Grade A stuff more consistently. It is the offense, though, that has propelled Joe Espada's club to a four-game winning streak.
Chas McCormick is hoping to be an integral component of this Astros' awakening, and he made sure to get in on the fun in Saturday's 5-1 victory versus the visiting Baltimore Orioles. The ice-cold outfielder raised his batting average by 20 points after going 2-for-3 with two solo home runs.
He crushed a cutter thrown by AL Cy Young contender Corbin Burnes in the fifth inning and then blasted another off reliever Bryan Baker in the eighth. McCormick put on a heck of a show at Minute Maid Park, but make no mistake, this was the work of a desperate man.
“I needed a game like today,” he said, via ESPN. “It felt good. I’ve just been working hard and obviously I know I’ve been struggling, but I hope I can keep this momentum going forward.”
McCormick's eruption might be a sign that the Astros are finally coming out of their funk.
McCormick, Astros get a big win and keep climbing the AL
The veteran outfielder was hitting just .205 and striking out a ghastly 29.2 percent of the time entering this face-off with the Orioles. A meeting with Burnes, one of the top-five pitchers in the game today, should have only exacerbated his issues. Instead, Chas McCormick rose to the occasion and helped Houston clinch its most important series W of the year.
Diehard fans are likely salivating after witnessing his outburst, for they know that he is a streaky hitter. McCormick hammered the baseball throughout most of last July and August before cooling off a little at the end of 2023. Perhaps, he is about to embark on another sweltering stretch following Saturday's stellar showing.
The Astros could definitely use it, that's for sure. If the 29-year-old reasserts himself as a viable contributor, then the lineup is bound to inflict serious terror on opposing pitchers everywhere. The team already ranks first in the MLB in batting average and is near the top in home runs, slugging and OPS. A rejuvenated McCormick could further boost Houston up the league standings.
And so, the Astros will continue to plug away in the face of a grim fate as they seek an improbable sweep of Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.
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