Jose Altuve Pops Three Homers As Houston Downs Boston, 8-2; Cleveland Tops Yankees, 4-0

Players of the Day for Thursday, October 5, 2017

American League

Jose Altuve belted three solo home runs in the opening game of the AL divisional series, leading the Houston Astros to an 8-2 thrashing of the Boston Red Sox.

Altuve: 3-4, 3 HR, 3 RBI

Altuve's three dingers came in the first, the fifth and the seventh inning, as the Astros outclassed and outscored their visiting rivals from the AL East. Two of Altuve's blasts were off Boston starter, Chris Sale, who was outdeuled by a re-energized Justin Verlander, traded late in the season from Detroit to the Astros.

Sale went five innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits. Verlander gave up six hits over six innings, allowing single runs in the second and fourth. Four Houston relievers mopped up over the final three innings.

Altuve, who led the majors with a .346 batting average, is one of the leading candidates for league MVP. His performance on Thursday will likely sway a few votes in his direction.

Game two of the best-of-five series is scheduled for a 2:05 pm ET start, Friday in Houston.

In the other AL division series, Cleveland took a 1-0 lead on the visiting Yankees with a 4-0 victory. Trevor Bauer blanked the Yanks on two hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight. Jay Bruce doubled and scored in the second inning, socked a two-run homer in the fourth and drove in his third run of the game with a fifth-inning sac fly.

The Yankees will try to even the score with the reigning AL champs on Friday in game two. Game time is 5:00 pm at Cleveland's Progressive Field.

National League

There were no games in the National League. The divisional series begin Friday.

Washington hosts Chicago at 7:30 pm ET. The Dodgers host Arizona at 10:30 pm ET.