Astros’ Jose Altuve hits 3 homers in 3 innings vs Rangers

Jose Altuve unloaded on the Texas Rangers in the Houston Astros’ 14-1 win on Tuesday night.

The star second baseman hit three home runs in the first three innings of the game. He finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Two of the dingers came off Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi and the final one game off of Dane Dunning. He would later be removed from the game.

“I stayed with my same approach and if it happened, it happened,” Altuve said, via MLB.com. “They made some good pitches.”

Altuve has 15 home runs on the season. He had homered in four consecutive at-bats going back to Houston’s 13-6 win in the series opener on Monday. The run ended with a groundout in the fifth inning.

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He tied the MLB record with five homers in a two-game span and is the first player since 1961 to homer in four consecutive innings, according to MLB.com and the Elias Sports Bureau. He is also the first Houston player with consecutive multihomer games since Richard Hidalgo in 2000.

“It’s obviously amazing,” Altuve said. “It’s a good thing to do, especially the situation we are in right now trying to get to first place, trying to win the division. It’s good.”

Houston moved to 79-71 on the season and owns a one-game lead over the Seattle Mariners and a two-game lead over the Rangers in the American League West. The Astros have the third-best record in the American League behind the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.