Astros third baseman Alex Bregman entered Sunday’s game against the Royals having hit a rough patch in his season.

He was 4-for-20 over his past five games, and when he popped out and walked in the second inning Sunday, he apparently decided a radical change was in order. Immediately.

When he came back up to the plate in the fourth inning, eagle-eyed observers noticed something was different. He had shaved his mustache.

Bregman fared no better with the clean-shaven look, however, finishing the game 0-for-4 with an RBI and seeing his average drop to .167 over his past six games. Even without much from Bregman, the AL West-leading Astros won 11-3.

“I had no idea,” Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole told MLB.com after the game. “I don’t pay attention to Alex’s shaving habits in the middle of the game. I did like the mustache. I thought it played. It was Jeff Kent-esque. It was on top of his lip when he stabbed that soft liner in the first inning, which got us out of a jam. Personally, I’m a fan of the ‘stache, but I guess it’s been sent down. It’s been DFA’d. We’ll wait until it comes back.”

Now facial hair free, it looks like Bregman will have to try something else to bust out of his slump.