George Springer added a two-run single.
And now Jose Altuve smacks a two-run homer.

Two home runs and 5 RBIs for Altuve already!
It's 8-0 Astros in the bottom of the 2nd.

They've already bombarded Tim Lincecum to the tune of 8 earned runs, 6 hits. His ERA is at 8.70 and rising fast!

Jose Altuve's bid to win the 2016 American League MVP keeps on rolling.
Hitting .360 with 17 home runs, 59 RBI's: .428 on-base percentage.
Altuve leads all of baseball in total hits. 1.005 OPS. Also 25 stolen bases.

He is trying to become the first player since Ty Cobb in 1917 to lead the league in batting average, total hits, stolen bases and on-base percentage. Currently Altuve is 1st in the American League in all four of those categories. He just passed Mike Trout in on-base percentage. He's also among the league leaders in extra base hits.

What Altuve is doing this year is truly special. We're talking about Ty Cobb in 1917 the last time it happened!

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jul 24 2016 01:01pm

Jpse Atuve had picked up another RBI single to go along with two homers.
3 hits today. A career high 6 RBIs for Altuve today (60 on the year).

It's 13-1 Astros in the bottom of the 6th.

Hopefully they save some runs for the New York Yankees tomorrow night.
Dallas Keuchel is pitching and he has great career numbers against them.

But the Rangers lead 2-1 at Kansas City in the late innings. Seventh inning stretch.
Looks like another day of having to win just to stay 2.5 games back.
Unless there is some late-inning Royals magic out there.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jul 24 2016 02:27pm

Tim Lincecum said after the game that he tried to waste that pitch in the dirt on Altuve's second home run.
Altuve is one of the best pure hitters I've seen in a long time. His hot zone is "pure red" all over the plate. It's crazy.



I'm super excited to see Alex Bregman making his Major League debut against the New York Yankees tonight.
I think he will start at third base with Luis Valbuena shifting to first base but we'll see what A.J. Hinch will do.

Marwin Gonzalez, who was starting a lot of games at first base recently, sprained his left ankle yesterday.
But certainly this a huge opportunity for Bregman to potentially win a job for the long haul if he plays well.

Alex Bregman, a natural shortstop, has also played third base and left field in the minor leagues.
And he looked solid defensively at all three of those positions. He'll mostly play third base with the Astros.
Although I'm sure he will make some starts in left field as well. Because Colby Rasmus is struggling (hitting .226).

Dallas Keuchel is pitching against Michael Pineda in tonight's game. Keuchel enjoys pitching against the Yankees.
The Astros are trying to win five games in a row and remain perfect on this home stand. I hope they keep the wins coming.

I should correct myself: Alex Bregman will definitely play left field once Yulieski Gurriel is called up in mid August.
But that's assuming Alex Bregman plays well enough to stay on the 25-man roster. He could be sent back down if he struggles.
I'm trying not to look that far ahead. A lot can happen in these next couple of weeks before Gurriel is making his MLB debut.

Gurriel is going to play third base for the Astros. So Bregman's long-term future will likely be in left field.
But as of right now I was only focused on his immediate future. I would imagine it will be at third base.

But A.J. Hinch is one of those managers that will constantly shuffle a lineup. So you just never know until it's on the card.
I often have to look at the Astros lineup a couple hours before the game starts to know where some guys are playing.

Thankfully the Astros have the DH to use most of the time to stick an extra bat in the lineup.

A guy like Colby Rasmus, who was a hitting machine in the playoffs last year, will likely see less playing time in the near future. And plus Rasmus is a free agent this winter. I know the Astros signed him to a one year deal the past couple of off-seasons. But I can't imagine they will keep shelling out big money to Rasmus on one year deals. ($16 million this year). Not when he's hitting under .230.

Rasmus literally doubled his salary from $8 million last year to $16 million this year solely based on his amazing 2015 postseason.

Bottom line: Alex Bregman and Yulieski Gurriel have a great opportunity in front of them.
If they can both hit Major League pitching successfully, it's a no brainer that they will both be in the everyday lineup.

Gonna be hilarious when Astros lose in the first playoff series and then you quit again

Maybe, but I'm already used to all the Houston teams disappointing me in the playoffs.

A.J. Hinch already released tonight's Astros lineup.

1. George Springer (R) RF
2. Preston Tucker (L) LF
3. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
4. Carlos Correa (R) SS
5. Luis Valbuena (L) 1B
6. Alex Bregman (R) 3B
7. Evan Gattis (R) DH
8. Carlos Gomez (R) CF
9. Jason Castro (L) C

Looks like Alex Bregman is starting at third base and hitting 6th in his Major League debut.

Alex Bregman already made a nice play at third base in the top of the 1st.

A quick 1-2-3 for Dallas Keuchel. Correa also made a web gem.

What an infield. Maybe Yulieski Gurriel can play first base, left field or DH when he arrives in mid August.

A Springer dinger! First pitch he saw.
22 home runs on the year. He's been mashing since his all-star snub.

Alex Bregman flied out to left field in his first at-bat.
But he's made two nice plays at third base.
He turned a nice double play to end the top of the 3rd.

If Bregman can play third base like this I'll be thrilled.
Bregman, Correa and Altuve. Oh man, what a killer combo.