Astros star José Altuve hits 3 home runs in 3 innings in blowout win over Rangers

José Altuve went on a wild home run streak on Tuesday.

The Houston Astros star, after hitting a home run in his final at-bat Monday, rattled off three homers to kick off the Astros’ 14-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday. That gave Altuve four straight home runs and five in a span of 12 innings.

Altuve is the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to hit three home runs in the first three innings of a game. Manny Machado was the last to do it in 2016, when he was with the Baltimore Orioles. Mike Cameron did so in 2002 with the Seattle Mariners, and Carl Reynolds was the first player to accomplish the feat in 1930 with the Chicago White Sox. Altuve is the first player in the expansion era to hit four home runs in four innings, according to MLB's Sarah Langs.

Altuve got the night started Tuesday with a solo shot in the first inning off Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who lasted less than two innings on the mound.

José Abreu and Alex Bregman each hit RBI singles in the first to put the Astros up 3-0.

Altuve then hit a solo home run in the second to nearly the same spot as his first.

Martín Maldonado hit a two-run home run in the third, which gave the Astros an eight-run lead. Altuve followed suit with his third and final home run of the night, a 426-foot shot to center field.

That marked his fourth straight home run and fifth in the past two days.

Altuve hit a home run in the sixth and ninth innings of the Astros’ 13-6 win over the Rangers on Monday. His home runs in that game followed homers from Mauricio Dubón, who was batting last in the lineup.

Dubón hit an RBI double in the seventh for Houston on Tuesday, and then Maldonado and Yordan Álvarez each hit two-run home runs to close the inning and put the Astros up 14-1. They finished the night with 20 hits as a team and have 11 home runs in two days. Framber Valdez had four strikeouts and allowed six hits in seven innings on the mound for Houston.

Altuve entered the night batting .316 with 36 RBI. He has 15 home runs this season, his 13th in Houston.

The Astros have won seven of their past 10 games, with the only losses coming in a three-game sweep by the New York Yankees. They hold a 79-61 record, which moved them a game ahead of the Seattle Mariners and gave them their first AL West lead of the season. The Rangers are now two games back of the Astros in the division.