'Stros Streaking -- What we learned from Astros/Rockies

Photo courtesy of Tim Warner/Getty Images

After what had been a dreadful start to the shortened season, things finally seem to be going the Astros' way.

Their home-and-home series with the Colorado Rockies inspired a lot of confidence in a Houston squad that obviously had the talent to make a push, but had up to that point failed to consistently put it all together. Sweeping Colorado, who certainly wasn't any slouch of a team heading into the series, seemed to put the rest of the league on notice -- the Astros are still a very, very good baseball team.

There was a lot to like in this series with Colorado, but here are some things that stood out to me the most during the series.

The Kyle Tucker Hitting Party

Kyle Tucker was, for all intents and purposes, an absolute menace against the Colorado pitching staff. Against the Rockies, Tucker was hitting .466 (7-15) at the plate, well above his previous average of .195 heading into the series with Colorado. He raised that number to .239 after the final game against Colorado on Thursday, driving in seven runs over the course of the four games.

Three of those seven hits during the series were triples, and while they occurred in hitter-friendly Coors Field, seeing Tucker stroke extra base hits was more than encouraging.

Kyle Tucker's production has been a welcome development, especially with the recent sidelining of Michael Brantley and Yordan Álvarez, the latter of whom is gone for the season with knee issues. Should Tucker continue his exceptional hitting, the bottom of the Astros' lineup will be all the more lethal, now and in the future.

Late Inning Success

Despite how the series ended, the first two games of the four-gamer were tightly contested pitchers' duels. Both ended with scores of 2-1 in favor of the Astros, and those wins are largely contributed to clutch pitching down the stretch.

Starter Brandon Bielak was pulled after completing six innings of one-run baseball in the first game of the series; Brooks Raley, Josh James, and Blake Taylor shut down a potent Rockies' lineup featuring sluggers Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado, in addition to NL batting average leader Charlie Blackmon. Game two saw Zack Greinke dominate for eight innings, but a game that went into extras was held in check by Enoli Paredes, Ryan Pressly, and Andre Scrubb.

With experience, the bullpen seems to have matured into not letting the moment get too big for them, and now that Dusty Baker has found the appropriate situations to use his relievers, they're thriving in their roles.

A Turning Point For 'Tuve?

It was a small thing, but José Altuve went 4-10 in Colorado. One of those four hits was a two-RBI double on a 3-0 count. It was a pitch right in his wheelhouse, and it almost left the park.

Houston's gotten by mostly without much production from Altuve, who has struggled mightily in the shortened season. A turnaround could do wonders for the team, however, especially with Alex Bregman sent to the IL a few days ago.

Altuve said he "felt good" after Thursday's game, which is an encouraging sign for a guy who admitted was in his own head a bit during the season. An MVP-level Altuve could be the shot in the arm the team needs to make a push to reclaim first in the AL West.