Altuve f lexes his muscles in opener
The AL batting champion hits three home runs, two off Sale, and Astros roll over Red Sox in opener.
Houston’s second baseman becomes only the 10th player to hit three home runs in a postseason game in an 8-2 win over Boston, and the Indians’ Trevor Bauer shuts down Yankees.
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve had just arrived in the Astros dugout after launching his third home run of the game when George Springer grabbed his right biceps and examined it, as if searching for an explanation for his teammate’s extraordinary pop.
“He makes sure he stays on top of his gym routine, whatever it is,” Springer said. “The dude is just a joke.”
The major league batting champion put on an impressive show of power Thursday as Houston roughed up Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox 8-2 in Game 1 of the AL division series.
Buoyed by chants of “MVP” in each trip to the plate, the 5-foot-6 Altuve hit solo homers in the first and fifth innings off Sale. He connected again in the seventh off reliever Austin Maddox to give Houston a quick boost in the bestof-five series.
“As soon as I cross the white line, I feel the same size as everyone else,” Altuve said.
It was only the 10th time a player hit three homers in a postseason game, and first since Pablo Sandoval for the Giants in the 2012 World Series opener against Detroit. Babe Ruth did it twice.
“I told him the last time I’ve seen three home runs in a game was Pablo Sandoval and I gave up two of them, so I’m glad there’s somebody new that’s done it,” winning pitcher Justin Verlander said.
Altuve became the first Astros player to hit three homers in one game since 2007, when Carlos Lee did it in the regular season. He seemed as surprised as anyone else that he was now in a category with the Sultan of Swat, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols.
“I hit one and I was like: ‘wow,’ ” he said. “And the second one is like: ‘Wow, what’s going on here?’ ”
And his thoughts after the third?
“I got to wake up,” he said, flashing a huge grin.
After he finished talking to Springer following his third shot, Altuve’s teammates goaded him into exiting the dugout for a curtain call.
Verlander pitched six effective innings and improved to 6-0 since Houston got him in a late trade with Detroit. He is 5-0 with a 2.24 ERA in nine career starts in the division series.
Sale, the major league strikeout leader, was tagged for seven runs in five-plus innings of his postseason debut.
Among the shortest players in the majors, Altuve couldn’t be a bigger leader for the Astros.
He’s one of the few players remaining from a rebuilding process that led to three straight 100-loss seasons from 2011-13, and is perhaps the main reason his team ran away with the AL West title this year.