The way the Houston Astros have been hitting, Justin Verlander certainly had a clear advantage going into a matchup against another three-time Cy Young Award winner. Houston had already hit the first of its five homers and gone ahead to stay before Verlander even threw his first pitch against the Texas Rangers. José Abreu's grand slam in the third inning was Houston’s third homer against Texas starter Max Scherzer, who was done soon after that, and Abreu added a three-run blast as the Astros went on for a 12-3 victory over the slumping Rangers on Wednesday night to complete a sweep in the pivotal three-game AL West series.
The Houston Astros made quite a powerful statement while slugging themselves back to the top of the AL West. With 21 games left in the regular season, and a day off Thursday, Houston (80-61) has a one-game division lead over Seattle and a three-game edge over Lone Star State rival Texas.
With a matchup of three-time Cy Young Award winners looming in the finale of a key series with rival Texas, Jose Altuve and the Houston Astros have mashed their way back to a familiar spot. The defending World Series champions are alone atop the AL West for the first time all season. Altuve homered in each of the first three innings, starting with a pair off All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in his return from the injured list, and the Astros pummeled the Rangers 14-1 on Tuesday night.
When Mauricio Dubón saw he was batting ninth for the Houston Astros in the opener of their pivotal series against the Texas Rangers, he had a message for leadoff hitter Jose Altuve. “I told him we were going to go back-to-back,” Dubón said. Altuve gave him a high-five, and then they went out and did just that — twice.
Jasson Domínguez sparked the New York Yankees with his very first swing in the majors. Domínguez became the youngest Yankees player to homer in his first career at-bat and Aaron Judge reached 250 home runs faster than any other major leaguer as New York slugged its way to a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night. DJ LeMahieu sent Justin Verlander’s second pitch into the right-field seats for a leadoff shot, and there were two outs in the first inning when Verlander walked Giancarlo Stanton.