Altuve, Correa finish triple shy of cycle in Astros' onslaught
After watching his club stumble through a brutal first month to the 2016 season, Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch joked Sunday evening following a 2-1 victory in Oakland that May "has been great for us."
He was kidding, but, so far, he ain't wrong.
Having notched two wins in their first three games already this month, the Astros enjoyed their finest offensive performance of the year Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins, establishing a new season-high for runs - while matching their previous high-water mark with 14 hits - in a 16-2 drubbing at Minute Maid Park.
Jose Altuve, who smacked his fifth leadoff homer of the year, and Carlos Correa both finished a triple shy of the cycle, while every member of the Astros' starting lineup recorded at least one base hit. What else went down in the Astros' onslaught? Well, let's take a look...
- After smashing an opposite-field blast for his first homer of 2016 on Tuesday night, Astros catcher Jason Castro went deep again in the third inning on Wednesday's victory, finishing 2-for-3 while notching four RBIs for just the fourth time in his career.
- Despite striking out three times, Astros center fielder Carlos Gomez drove in multiple runs for the first time this year, matching his RBI output from his first 23 games in 2016 on a fifth-inning double that scored Altuve and Correa.
- Twins right-hander Phil Hughes endured his shortest start since Sept. 30, 2015, recording just six outs before being replaced by Casey Fien with a 6-0 deficit in the bottom of the second.
- Not long after the Astros grabbed a 16-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, both Twins manager Paul Molitor and right-hander Ryan Pressly were ejected for arguing balls and strikes.