DENVER — Credit toward Carlos Beltran is endless from the Astros organization. His signing during the 2017 offseason was perhaps the most vital pre-August acquisition for Houston's World Series run.

Beltran instituted a post-victory tradition of awarding a pitcher and hitter of the game. It still exists today, albeit modified with two large robes. His guidance and sage wisdom reverberated through a clubhouse of mostly young players without much postseason experience. Contributing 14 home runs was nice, too.

Now, Beltran is employed by the team most primed to challenge the Astros for American League supremacy. Still, he found a way to help his old Houston club.

During the four-game series against the Yankees in New York last month, Yuli Gurriel sought Beltran's advice. Gurriel entered the Bronx with a .693 OPS and five home runs. His on-base percentage dipped below .300. In an Astros lineup desperately seeking a spark from one of its veterans, he was the furthest thing from it.

Beltran, a special adviser to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, met with Gurriel during the series. Beltran told the 34-year-old Cuban to look at the baseball with both eyes.

"Carlos helped me a lot," Gurriel said Tuesday night through an interpreter. "He told me to look at the ball with two eyes and not with one eye. Just making that adjustment has helped me out."

Listening into the answer, Alex Bregman — a fine Spanish speaker — contributed that Gurriel's stance was somewhat closed off. He's opened the stance more, Bregman said, and seeing pitches is easier.

Since departing the Bronx, Gurriel is 10-for-25 with four home runs. He struck walkoff hits on consecutive days during the last homestand. His OPS, at .655 on June 9, now sits at .756.

On Tuesday, he fell three total bases shy of matching a franchise record. He settled for 10 bags, knocking two home runs and a run-scoring double. His four RBI paced the Astros' nine-run attack. The seventh-inning, two-run home run was the deciding blow.

Gurriel is hitting .414 (12-for-29) during the last seven games — spanning the final game against the Yankees and the six that followed. Five of his 10 home runs have arrived in that span.

"I'm just trying to find good pitches to hit and identify good pitches and start a better second half," Gurriel said.

Gurriel's three hits on Tuesday came against two fastballs and a slider. He is one of the Astros' best contact hitters. Rarely will he ever strike out. As most slumping hitters do, he can be prone to chasing pitches in search of a quick fix to his woes.

Gurriel can also be one of the team's most clutch performers. The consecutive walkoffs last week proved it. Two hits with runners in scoring position on Tuesday upped his average to .265. Five of his 10 home runs and 11 of his 32 extra-base hits have come with a runner in scoring position.

"He's getting pretty good pitches to hit and he's not missing them," manager A.J. Hinch said. "They've given him some pitches to hit with guys in scoring position and he's staying low. He's not so concerned about getting the ball too far into the air. He's hitting the ball hard. It's carrying for him and he's coming up with some really big hits."