Walker's big swing helps Astros to first consecutive wins of 2025

HOUSTON -- The biggest swing of first baseman Christian Walker’s tenure with the Astros came in the sixth inning Saturday night, when he belted a game-tying two-run home run off Michael King of the Padres.

It was the result of a series of adjustments he has made in recent days to try to put his woeful start behind him.

Walker’s first homer since April 3 and fellow newcomer Isaac Paredes’ bloop RBI single to center field in the seventh inning were enough to propel the Astros to consecutive wins for the first time this season with a 3-2 victory over the Padres on Saturday night at Daikin Park.

“Really good swing -- big hit, big at-bat,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Walker’s homer. “I’m happy for him. He’s grinding.”

Signed to a three-year, $60 million contract in December, Walker entered Saturday hitting .159 (11-for-69) with one homer and two RBIs in his first 19 games with the Astros. Espada dropped him to fifth in the order on Saturday after he had batted cleanup in every game.

“I get it,” Walker said. “We’re here to win. And if I’m not doing what I need to be to help the team win in the four hole, an adjustment needs to be made. I’m willing to be accountable and admit I need to be better. If there’s someone else who can do that job better at the moment, let’s do it. Let’s do everything we can to make this lineup as good as we can.”

Walker’s homer came off a sweeper that hung over the middle of the plate. That tied the game, and Paredes put the Astros ahead, 3-2, when he fought off a 3-2 splitter from reliever Jeremiah Estrada and dumped it into center to drive in Victor Caratini from second base.

“Just to come through in a spot, you feel like you’re helping the team,” Walker said. “That’s something I’ve been craving lately, something I need to be better at. It’s about building some momentum, staying consistent and just putting together some good at-bats.

“The pitchers did a great job today of holding a really good offense to [two] runs and gave us a chance to figure it out and make an adjustment. Luckily, the runs late were what we needed.”

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Most of the work Walker has been doing in the batting cage lately has focused on his path to the ball. Specifically, he’s trying to figure out how to get balls in the air more. His ground-ball percentage coming into the game was 50%, which is a sharp increase over the 38.6% ground-ball rate he had in the previous three seasons.

“I feel like when I put it on the barrel, I hit it hard -- but I’ve got to get those up in the air and try to get them in the gap,” he said. “And then once you get in the game, just try to trust myself, trust what I’m seeing in the moment, trust what I feel, being in a spot to compete throughout the at-bats. It’s easy to feel like right now I’ve got to go out and get five hits to help the team, but it’s about staying in the moment and making good decisions and winning every pitch.”

Walker said he felt like he was “crashing forward pretty hard” on pitches, which makes it difficult to make good decisions on offspeed pitchers and makes fastballs feel like they’re coming in even hotter.

“So trying to play with my posture and stay behind balls better and, I think, a part of that is where my hands start and giving myself some room to load and keeping my hands back,” he said. “There’s a lot that goes into it. It feels like we’re heading in the right direction slowly.”

A three-time Gold Glove winner, Walker made a huge play on defense in the ninth inning, when he raced back to catch an Elias Díaz popup over his shoulder in shallow right field, keeping Jose Iglesias at second base as the tying run. Josh Hader got Yuli Gurriel to fly to right field to end the game for his sixth save.

“With a right-handed hitter, I’m playing kind of shading the four hole there, so it’s not a directly straight-over-my-shoulder run,” Walker said. “You have a little bit extra ground to cover, but I’m confident [that] if I can get to those balls, I can make the catch. It’s a matter of being able to cover enough ground.”