In battle of AL's best, Astros strike first in win over Royals
In 2014, the Kansas City Royals were the come-out-nowhere, surprise team in baseball en route to the World Series as the American League Champions.
While the Royals are showing their success was no accident in 2015, the Houston Astros are blazing their own trail, finally back to relevancy after notching their 45th win - most in the American League - in a 6-1 victory over Kansas City, which has 44 wins.
Will the 2015 Astros have a similar fate to the 2014 Royals? That is still up for debate. But one thing is for certain, if Houston is to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005, it is going to have to prove itself against the class of the American League, which it did magnificently Monday evening at Minute Maid Park.
Rookie starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. allowed just one run while striking out six in seven innings, setting the table as the offense tabbed Royals' starter Joe Blanton early for five runs, ending his night early after 2 2/3 innings.
"We didn't swing out of the zone too much, specifically early," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "You always ask your guys to take whatever they give you and he was nibbling on the plate or just off the plate and we just continued to take our base, take our base ... we really were opportunistic with whatever we were being given."
Included in the six runs by the Astros where home runs by Jose Altuve and Chris Carter, in the third and fifth innings respectively. For Altuve, it was his seventh dinger of the season, already tying his season career-highs from 2012 and 2014.
"I'm not sure if it's a change of approach necessarily, but he's under control," Hinch said. "He's understanding he can be not only a good hitter but a powerful hitter... They're not out-of-control swinging for the fences, they're more opportunistic."
While there has been much controversy over the amount of Royals (deserving or not) in the lead at their respective positions for starting in the All-Star Game, Altuve certainly swayed a few last minute voters in his favor over Kansas City second baseman Omar Infante with his performance Monday.
According to Hinch, even though Altuve already has a batting title under his belt despite only playing in the majors for a relatively short while, he is just scratching the surface of what his true potential could be, learning more about the game everyday.
"He's learning how to drive the ball, which is somewhat hard to say when you talk about Altuve learning, because everybody feels he's arrived and he's already won a batting title," Hinch said. "This guy's just tapping into the well rounded hitter he can be."
Playing with a lineup a little different than what has been presented previously due to nagging injuries, the Astros displayed their depth, showcasing several young talents, including Domingo Santana who has shown a vast improvement at the plate. In his first stint with the Astros last season, Santana went 0 for 17 with 14 strikeouts. In 2015, since being called up from Triple-A Fresno as the club's No. 3 prospect earlier in June, Santana is hitting .250 with two doubles and two home runs in 11 games.
"It's just trying to go out there and just have fun," Santana said when asked what has changed since his first major-league stint from last season. "Last year, I put too much pressure on myself."
Overall, the Astros know they still have a lot of baseball left before they can be officially crowned as the new surprise team in MLB. But starting out a three-game series with a satisfying win against the reigning AL Champions is an excellent way of showing they have the ability to go toe-to-toe with the best-of-the-best in the league when it comes time for Houston to make a return to the playoffs after a nine-year hiatus.
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