HOUSTON – The roof of the Minute Maid Park was open on a pristine Thursday night, a loud and energetic crowd was on every field and the balls kept flying out of the baseball field in record time. It was such a good night for the Astros that second baseman Jose Altuve later said it was “like a dream come true.”
For the A’s it was more of a nightmare. Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez and Altuve each hit solo homers as the Astros continued their early season dominance against the A’s with a 6-2 win in their home opener in front of 21,765 fans – the first time Houston played for his own fans since then Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.
“Tonight was a perfect night for us,” said Altuve.
Over seven games, the Astros (6-1) have set a franchise-record of 15 home runs, a run that also leads the Major Leagues, and they have scored 51 points, which is second only to the Reds (57). Houston has scored at least six runs in all but one games and has surpassed Oakland 41-11 in five games between the American League West’s rivals, all of which were Astros victories.
“This team can hit, and they’ve worked hard in Spring Training,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker. ‘I’ve never seen so many men hit. They hit in the morning before practice, they hit during practice, they hit after practice. … These guys love to hit. I had no expectations. I’d like to see when the bottom of the order starts to roll. “
Correa led off the second inning with a homer from the opposite field to right Oakland-starter Cole Irvin, who just sneaked from the seats in the first few rows. Combined with his two-run homer in the ninth inning on Tuesday, that gave Correa homers in consecutive at-bats, and enabled the Astros to tie a franchise-record by homing in seven consecutive games to complete a season. to start.
Alvarez, winner of the 2019 American League Rookie of the Year Award who missed most of last season after surgery on both knees, is 10-for-30 to start the season with two homers and eight RBIs. He opened the sixth with a 405-foot blast to the second deck in Irvin’s right field, which made it 3-0.
“I don’t think we’ve seen our best yet,” Baker said.[Alex] Bregman swings the bat better. Yordan, he probably exceeded expectations because I didn’t know what to expect when I came out of Spring Training with his legs. It is a good feeling to register it every day. “
Coming off a tough 2020 season, Altuve is 9-for-29 (.310) to start the year, hitting his first homer at Minute Maid Park for fans – and second home overall – since his walk-off bang to defeat the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2019 AL Championship Series. This one, traversing 426 feet, moved to a similar section of the baseball field in left midfield to open the seventh.
“I hit the ball quite well,” said Altuve. “I had a lot of energy during the game as the fans have been cheering for us since the first inning. That’s enough to motivate you and encourage you to get out and keep swinging the bat. “
And swing the bat, the Astros are.