On Tuesday night, José Altuve went on a wild home run streak.
The Houston Astros star launched three home runs to start Tuesday’s 14-1 victory over the Texas Rangers after hitting a home run in his final at-bat on Monday. Altuve now has five home runs in a space of 12 innings after hitting four in a row.
Altuve is just the fourth MLB player to ever blast three home runs in a game’s first three innings. The most recent to do so in 2016 while playing for the Baltimore Orioles was Manny Machado. Carl Reynolds was the first player to do so in 1930 with the Chicago White Sox, and Mike Cameron did it in 2002 with the Seattle Mariners. According to MLB’s Sarah Langs, Altuve is also the only player in the expansion period to hit four straight home runs in a row.
With a solo shot to left field in the first inning against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched for less than two innings, Altuve got the game underway.
The Astros promptly went up 3-0 on to RBI singles from José Abreu and Alex Bregman in the first inning.
In the second inning, Altuve launched a single home run to almost the exact same location as the first.
The third inning saw Martn Maldonado hit a two-run home run, giving the Astros an eight-run lead. With his third and last home run of the evening, Altuve followed suit with a 426-foot blast to centre field.
That was his fifth home run in the last two days and his fourth in a row.
In the sixth and ninth innings of the Astros’ 13-6 victory over the Rangers on Monday, Altuve hit home runs. In that game, Mauricio Dubón, who was hitting last in the lineup, hit two home runs before he did.
On Tuesday night, Dubón hit an RBI double for Houston, and then Maldonado and Yordan lvarez each hit two-run home runs to end the inning and make it 14-1 for the Astros. They had a total of 20 hits for the night as a team and 11 home runs in the previous two days. Framber Valdez pitched seven innings for Houston, striking out four batters while giving up six hits.
Altuve started the night with a hit.36 RBIs and a 316. His current season total of 15 home runs includes his 13th in Houston.
The Astros have won seven of their most recent ten games; their lone defeat came in a three-game New York Yankees sweep. With a record of 79-61, they moved one game ahead of the Seattle Mariners and took their first AL West lead of the year. The Astros now lead the division by two games over the Rangers.
