Texas Rangers at Houston Astros

The Astros are the hottest team in baseball and have the best hitter on the planet, but that doesn’t mean the club will sit on its hands prior to the Trade Deadline. If anything, Houston’s surge to the top of the American League West is a signal to the front office of what the club could be capable of in October with a few reinforcements. While the Astros wait to see what roster additions will be made prior to Monday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline, they completed a dominating sweep of the Rangers -- who came into Daikin Park in first place in the division -- by winning Sunday’s series finale, 7-3, to stretch their season-high winning streak to six games. “Just playing our tails off, man, on both sides of the ball -- the energy, the execution, just the determination by this club,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Right now, we’re just playing our best baseball, just top to bottom on both sides. We’re doing a lot of things very well. I love the energy. We’re locked in. That’s the type of baseball we need to play to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish.” The Astros (58-55), winners of 11 of their past 12 games, have the longest active winning streak in the Majors and have posted back-to-back sweeps of AL West opponents to open up a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place Rangers. Houston’s offense posted a 1.091 OPS in the sweep, outscoring Texas, 23-9. What kind of statement did the Astros make with the Lone Star sweep?