HOUSTON: The roof of the Minute Maid Park was open on an immaculate Thursday night, there was a strong, energetic crowd on every pitch and the balls kept flying out of the park at a record pace. 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 scored solo homers as the Astros continued their dominance in the first season against the A’s with a 6-2 home win over 21,765 fans: the first time Houston played in front of his own fans since Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.
“Tonight was a perfect night for us,” Altuve said.
Over the course of seven games, the Astros (6-1) have set a franchise record of 15 home runs, a mark that also leads the Major Leagues, and have won 51 races, the second in the reds (57). Houston has scored at least six runs in all but one game and has beaten Oakland 41-11 in five games among West American League rivals, all of which have been Astros victories.
“This team can hit and have worked hard at Spring Training,” said Dusty Baker, Astros manager. “I’ve never seen the boys hit so hard. They hit in the morning before practice, they hit during practice, they hit after practice. … These guys like to hit. I had no expectations. I would like to see when the bottom of the order starts rolling ”.
Correa led the second inning with a homer on the opposing field to the right of Oakland starter Cole Irvin, who slipped into the front rows of the seats. Paired with his two-run homer in the ninth inning on Tuesday, this gave Correa home runs in consecutive bats, as well as allowing the Astros to tie a franchise record by scoring seven goals in seven consecutive games to start a season.
Alvarez, winner of the 2019 American League Rookie of the Year award who missed most of last season after knee surgery, is 10 to 30 years old to start the season with two homers and eight RBIs. He led the sixth with a 405-foot explosion on the second deck in right field in front of Irvin who made it 3-0.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the best we can,” Baker said. “[Alex] Bregman makes the bat spin better. Yordan, is the one who probably exceeded expectations, because he didn’t know what to expect from Spring Training with his legs. It’s a good feeling to make it a pencil every day ”.
Altuve, who is coming off a tough 2020 season, is 9 of 29 (.310) to start the year, and left his first home run at Minute Maid Park in front of fans (and the second at home overall) since of his outburst blast to beat the Yankees in the 6th game of the 2019 AL Championship Series. This one, which ran 426 feet, went to a similar part of the stadium in the center left field to head to the seventh.
“I hit the ball pretty well,” Altuve said. “I had a lot of energy during the game, because the fans encouraged us from the first entry. It’s enough to motivate you and encourage you to go there and keep swinging your bat. ”
And by spinning the bat, the Astros are.