Astros take twin bill with more Tucker magic

HOUSTON -- All the Astros needed to sweep a doubleheader from the A’s were a couple of big swings from Kyle Tucker in the first inning.

Tucker, who smacked a three-run homer in the first inning of the Astros’ 4-2 win in Game 1 on Saturday afternoon, ripped a three-run triple to left field in the first inning of Game 2 to send the Astros to a 6-3 victory and twin-bill sweep of the A’s at Minute Maid Park.

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“I’ve been seeing the ball real well,” Tucker said. “I haven’t chased a lot of pitches, which is a big part of that. If you’re not chasing pitches and you’re getting good pitches over the plate that you can hit, you will be even more productive that way.”

The win got the Astros to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place A’s in the American League West heading into Sunday’s series finale.

“It was huge,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “We wanted both those games and we wanted two out of three, at least [in the series], and now we have a chance to sweep them.”

Tucker became the first player since Toronto’s Otto Velez on May 4, 1980, to have at least three RBIs in the first innings of both games of a doubleheader. George Springer added a two-run homer in the second inning off Oakland starter Frankie Montas, enabling Zack Greinke to pick up the win after he allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.

“Tucker continues to be a force,” Baker said. “He’s got six RBIs in the doubleheader and he’s a triples man. Every time a ball goes into the gap or down the line, the guys are hollering for the triple. Keep it coming and keep running.”

Coming into the season, one of the big questions surrounding the Astros was what they would get from Tucker, the former No. 5 overall Draft pick who destroyed Triple-A pitching. He fizzled in his Major League debut in 2018 and showed some more promising flashes last September. With a veteran outfield returning in 2020 and AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez back at designated hitter, Tucker was going to have to hit well to play.

Alvarez has played in only two games and earlier this week underwent knee surgery, and Springer and Michael Brantley have battled injuries. Tucker has filled the offensive gap in their absence, but it took awhile.

After going 0-for-3 against the Rockies, on Aug. 18, he was slashing .193/.227/.349. Since then, he’s slashing .484/.579/1.226 with five triples, four homers, 10 runs and 18 RBIs in his last 10 games. His 29 RBIs are among the AL leaders. He’s been more selective, is laying off bad pitches and is using the whole field.

“I’ve been seeing the ball a lot better,” said Tucker, whose six triples are a club record through 33 games of a season. “It just helped me not really chase pitches right off the plate or anything.”

Springer said Tucker is beginning to slow the game down as he gets more comfortable and matures, and the fact he’s facing pitchers multiple times has helped him, as well.

“He’s been hitting the ball hard for a long time,” Springer said. “He’s showing glimpses of what he can do and he’s put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to be who he has been. This is obviously a short season and a lot of people get stuck on stats and all that stuff, but he doesn’t care. He just wants to drive the ball and it’s starting to show.”