It’s been well-documented how the recent returns of injured pitchers Hunter Brown and Josh Hader from the injured list have provided the Astros a shot in the arm. But just imagine if pitcher Tatsuya Imai turns the corner and finds some consistency, and if second baseman Jose Altuve returns to his All-Star-level status at the plate in the second half of the season. The Astros provided a glimpse of what they can become if two of their biggest underperforming stars get going. Imai rebounded from a disastrous performance by striking out a career-high 11 batters in six innings, while Altuve bashed a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning in a 9-3 win over the Guardians on Friday night at Daikin Park. The Astros (36-41) are five games under .500 for the first time since they were 8-13 on April 17. They’ve gone 17-11 since May 19 and are suddenly just three games behind the first-place Mariners (39-38) in the American League West. “I like where we are,” Altuve said. Imai, who recorded only two outs in his previous start a week earlier in Kansas City, retired the final 11 batters he faced after giving up a two-run homer to Rhys Hoskins in the third. He set a career high with 20 whiffs, including 17 on his slider, and gave up six hits and three runs. "I think he threw a lot more sliders than typical,” Hoskins said. “It's kind of a weird slider, too, not super typical from what we see. But he landed, I think, enough early on strikes-wise that it felt like we maybe needed to honor it more. … He just did a good job with that pitch specifically tonight and kept us off balance." The 11 strikeouts without a walk are the most by a Houston pitcher since Yusei Kikuchi struck out 12 without a walk on Aug. 31, 2024, against the Royals. “He came in today and wanted to show he’s better \[than his Kansas City performance\
