All Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker wanted was for his team to play with some consistency before they headed into a nine-game gauntlet against the Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, and Tampa Bay Rays. They looked sluggish against their in-state rival, Texas Rangers, at Minute Maid Park, losing the series while being sporadic at the plate.

Six games later, Houston has a 5-1 record that includes a three-game sweep over the Atlanta Braves with a 5-2 win on Sunday at Truist Field.

It was their third consecutive game where they trailed entering the sixth inning or later, and it was the third straight day where they put together some late-inning hits to secure the victory.

Houston scored 11 combined runs while holding Atlanta scoreless in the last three innings of each game.

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the eighth inning, the Astros looked as if they were going to waste a beautiful pitching performance from starter Cristian Javier who struck out ten batters in six innings while allowing only two runs in six innings.

Center fielder Jake Meyers hit a single to start a potential rally, and with two outs, second baseman Mauricio singled to left field to extend the inning and his hitting streak to 17 games. Braves reliever Nick Anderson would load the bases after walking Alex Bregman, bringing Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez to the plate with the game-tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Atlanta would replace Anderson with reliever A.J. Minter to face Alvarez, a batter that he did not have success against in the first game of the series as he surrendered a home run to give Houston the victory. Alvarez would record his 27th RBI of the season by driving in two runs on a single to left field to tie the game.

Rookie outfielder Corey Julks would provide the Astros with another spark in the next inning as he was called upon to pinch-hit in the top of the ninth inning. His two-strike, two-out pinch-hit single gave the Astros their first lead of the game. Bregman would drive in two more runs, and Bryan Abreu would pitch a scoreless bottom of the ninth to give Houston a four-game winning streak.

“I was just trying to get my mind right,” said Julks about coming into the game to hit for catcher Martin Maldonado. “I just focused on it and visualized it, and once Dusty called my number, I was ready to go. The team is looking good right now. We came into Atlanta and got a sweep; that was huge. Now we just plan on continuing on that into the next weeks.”

Houston will now face its most formidable opponent of the season as they head to St. Petersburg, Florida, to take on the Tampa Bay Rays, who have a 19-3 record and have not lost a game at home this season (13-0).