Scoring early and often works well for the Houston Astros. Repeating that formula will be the goal in the second game of their series against the host Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

The Astros snapped out of their offensive doldrums by recording all of their runs in the first three innings on Thursday in a series-opening 7-2 victory against the Orioles. There were home runs by Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz, and by game's end, Jesus Sanchez broke out of an 0-for-29 skid with a 5-for-5 night.

In the previous eight games, the Astros scored a total of 12 runs and were shut out four times. Even with the Thursday results, the American League West leaders have just three victories in their past nine games.

"We've got to recognize the things we are not doing very well right now in order

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