Altuve, Astros Crush Red Sox In ALDS Game 1

HOUSTON, TX — If there's a case for Major League Baseball to wait until the postseason to select its MVP, then Houston's Jose Altuve certainly made one in Thursday's 8-2 win over Boston in the American League Division Series. Altuve hit three home runs in one playoff game, a feat accomplished by only nine players in MLB history. Babe Ruth is the only to do it twice.

Altuve heard chants of "MVP, MVP, MVP" every time he walked up to the plate. He homered in the first, fifth and seventh innings and took a curtain call after the third dinger — and the Astros hitters were all over the Red Sox pitching Thursday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Altuve is one of the projected finalists to win the American League MVP award this year.

Game 2 of the best-of-5 ALDS will be Friday at 1.p.m. at Minute Maid Park. Drew Pomeranz will take the mound for the Red Sox while Dallas Keuche will be Houston's starting pitcher.

After Justin Verlander pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Astros wasted no time getting on the board with back-to-back home runs from Alex Bregman and Altuve to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

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Boston scored a run in the top of the second that was first posted on the board, then removed, and finally put back on the board after a video review. With Mitch Moreland on second and Dustin Pedroia on first, Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon singled to right field. With Moreland barreling toward home, Pedroia got tagged out at third for the third out. The umpires initially said Moreland scored before the third out, and it got overturned. The replay showed Moreland did, indeed, score.

After Boston tied the score 2-2 in the top of the fourth, the Astros scored two more in the bottom of the fourth, got Altuve's second home run in the fifth, scored two more in the sixth and got another Altuve round tripper in the seventh.

Verlander looked masterful in the first inning, mowing down the first three Red Sox hitters. The right-handed pitcher acquired in a trade with Detroit late in the regular season earned the win, giving up just six hits and two earned runs in six complete innings. Chris Devenski, Will Harris, Francisco Liriano and Joe Musgrove combined to throw three scoreless innings.

Top image: Houston Astros' Jose Altuve, center, celebrates his home run during the first inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)