The Houston Astros are set at third base, but the franchise would likely welcome back Isaac Paredes if he can return.

Their offense struck early both nights. After the outburst backed a bullpen game in the opener, Houston sent Hunter Brown to the mound Saturday. Its co-ace bulled through an effective start, working into the seventh inning of a 6-2 win over the non-contending Braves.

The Astros have been able to build in an extra day or two between starts for ace pitcher Hunter Brown in the final few weeks of the regular season with an eye on the push for the playoffs and October.

As first reported Friday morning by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Astros are calling up outfielder Zach Cole from Triple-A after a short amount of time with Sugar Land following a promotion last month.

Altuve singled to right field in the third inning and then was forced out at second on a grounder hit by Jesús Sánchez.

The reality of playing on the West Coast -- with their foes all playing three time zones over at the moment -- is that the Mariners go into their evening games knowing exactly how things stand when they take the field.

A day after losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings, the Houston Astros rallied to beat them on Wednesday, 3-2.

Zach Cole hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, Jose Altuve hit his 25th homer of the season and the Houston Astros routed the Atlanta Braves 11-3.

TORONTO — Into an inferno sprinted AJ Blubaugh, the 25-year-old rookie thrust into a role few are prepared to fill. Luis Garcia’s injury and abrupt exit in the second inning of Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays made Blubaugh a focus of 40,252 fidgety fans at Rogers Centre.