ASTROS 8, RED SOX 2
HOUSTON -- Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and the high-powered Astros led the majors in runs, hits and batting average in the regular season.
Now that it's playoff time, Houston is still hammering away.
Correa homered, doubled and drove in four runs, Altuve got two more hits and the Astros battered the Boston Red Sox 8-2 Friday to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the AL division series.
George Springer also homered to back former Arkansas Razorback Dallas Keuchel in Houston's second consecutive romp by the exact same score.
"One through nine, everybody can do damage, everybody can go deep," Correa said. "That's the good thing about our lineup, there's no holes in our lineup, and we feel very confident no matter if we went 0 for 4 the day before or if we went 4 for 4."
The Astros will go for a sweep in the best-of-five matchup Sunday at Fenway Park, a year after Boston was swept in the ALDS by Cleveland. Brad Peacock (13-2) starts for Houston against Doug Fister (5-9).
A day after Altuve hit three home runs in the playoff opener, he got things going with a two-out single in the first inning off Drew Pomeranz. Correa, who went 0 for 4 on Thursday, made it 2-0 when he launched a towering shot onto the train tracks atop left field.
Keuchel pitched into the sixth, allowing 1 run and 3 hits while striking out 7 to improve to 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in 3 career postseason starts.
After Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI single in the Boston second, the Astros started to break away.
Springer hit his first postseason home run when he sent the second pitch of the third inning into the front row of seats in right field.
A double by Alex Bregman set up an RBI single by Altuve later in the third, making it 4-1 and ending Pomeranz's first career postseason start after two relief appearances. The lefty kept his head down as he trudged toward the dugout after being lifted.
"Any mistake that we've made these past two games, they've made us pay for them," Pomeranz said. "It's playoff baseball, and these guys have come out swinging."
David Price, the starter-turned-reliever with the $217 million contract, pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the Red Sox. Following his exit, Houston tacked on four runs in the sixth.
A two-out intentional walk to Altuve, the major league batting champion this season, led to a two-run double by Correa. The top overall pick in the 2012 draft and crown jewel of Houston's years-long rebuilding project raised his hands in delight and motioned for the crowd to get louder as he stopped at second base.
Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts had an error that looked like it was pulled from a blooper reel earlier in the sixth when he caught a fly ball by Bregman and then simply lost the ball as he tried to throw it back in. Betts looked confused as the ball dribbled away from him and he was charged with an error, allowing a run to score.
"I'm not even sure how it happened," Betts said. "I messed up."
Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner known as much for his beard as his devastating sinker, had trouble settling in early, and after needing 30 pitches to get through the second inning it looked like this start might be a short one. But he struck out the last two batters of that inning as the first of 13 consecutive he retired.
Keuchel exited to a standing ovation after walking Hanley Ramirez with two outs in the sixth inning.
Altuve, who hit .346 this year, kept punishing pitchers. After singling in his first two trips to the plate, giving him five hits in the series, the Red Sox had seen enough and intentionally walked him in the fourth. That drew a loud chorus of boos from the home crowd, which greeted Altuve with a standing ovation in his first at-bat.
Many fans held signs saying that Altuve should be this season's MVP and one behind home plate proclaimed in sparkly multi-colored letters: "Altuve, He's Pretty Good."
Boston also gave him a free pass in the sixth inning, but had to pitch to him in the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs. Austin Maddox, who gave up Altuve's third home run on Thursday, jumped into the air and pumped his fist after striking him out.
It didn't matter much. Even with the strikeout, his average in the series is .714.
AL postseason glance
All times Central, x-if necessary
DIVISION SERIES (BEST-OF-5)
BOSTON VS. HOUSTON THURSDAY’S GAME Houston 8, Boston 2 FRIDAY’S GAME Houston 8, Boston 2
Houston leads series 2-0
SUNDAY’S GAME Houston (Peacock 13-2) at Boston (Porcello 11-17), 1:38 p.m. (FS1) x-MONDAY’S GAME Houston at Boston, 12:08 or 7:08 p.m. (FS1) x-WEDNESDAY’S GAME Boston at Houston, 3:08 or 7:08 p.m. (FS1)
NEW YORK VS. CLEVELAND THURSDAY’S GAME Cleveland 4, New York 0 TODAY’S GAME Cleveland 9, New York 8 (13)
Cleveland leads series 2-0
SUNDAY’S GAME Cleveland (Carrasco 18-6) at New York (Tanaka 13-12), 6:38 p.m. (FS1) x-MONDAY’S GAME Cleveland (Tomlin 10-9) at New York (Severino 14-6), 6:08 p.m. (FS1) x-WEDNESDAY’S GAME New York at Cleveland (Kluber), 8:08 p.m. (FS1)
Sports on 10/07/2017