José Altuve gave Houston a familiar October jolt Wednesday, turning a four-run first-inning hole into a reminder of how quickly the Astros’ postseason lineup can answer. In Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series at Daikin Park, the second baseman opened the fourth inning by driving his 28th career playoff home run into the Crawford Boxes.
The shot came in Altuve’s 107th postseason appearance and moved him within one homer of Manny Ramirez’s all-time record. It was Houston’s third solo blast after the White Sox had taken a 4-0 lead in the opening frame.
Quick facts
- Altuve hit his 28th career postseason home run in Game 2 against the White Sox.
- The fourth-inning homer traveled a projected 353 feet off Sean Burke.
- He trails Manny Ramirez by one for the postseason home run record.
- Kyle Schwarber owns 24 playoff homers after going deep in Philadelphia’s 4-3, 10-inning win at Atlanta.
- Houston had already received home runs from Jeremy Peña and Cam Smith.
Altuve nearly left the yard in the first, when his hit struck high on the left-field wall for a single. He did not miss the next time Burke gave him a slider he could handle, sending it into the short porch in left to begin the fourth.
It was his first October homer since Game 7 of the 2023 ALCS against the Rangers. The latest drive also gave him a postseason homer in the Wild Card Series for the first time, adding to a lengthy October ledger: 12 in the ALCS, 11 in the ALDS and four in the World Series.
Among those 28 blasts is one that still carries special weight in Houston. Altuve ended the Yankees’ 2019 season with a walk-off homer in Game 6 of the ALCS at the ballpark then known as Minute Maid Park.
The Astros had work to do after Hunter Brown surrendered four first-inning runs, with Houston committing two errors behind its starter. Peña answered immediately with a leadoff homer in the bottom half, and Smith followed in the second with a 440-foot drive to left that cut the deficit to 4-2.
Houston led the Major Leagues in home runs during the regular season, and the early response fit that identity. When October pressure arrives, Altuve remains the club’s most seasoned hand for changing the look of a game with one swing.
