Correa hits inside-the-park HR in return to action
After returning from bruised toe, shortstop rounds the bases in 16.39 seconds
HOUSTON -- Carlos Correa's bruised toe is feeling just fine.
Correa, who left Monday's home opener against the Orioles after two innings when he aggravated a bruised left big toe, streaked around the bases in his first at-bat in the Astros' 10-6 win over the Orioles on Tuesday and scored easily with the Astros' first inside-the-park home run in 3 1/2 years.
With Jose Altuve at first base and two outs in the first inning, Correa crushed a pitch to left-center field that glanced off the wall -- traveling 378 feet -- and just past the reach of Orioles left fielder Trey Mancini. The ball caromed toward center field, allowing Correa to round the bases in 16.39 seconds and score standing up with a two-run homer.
"We would have taken the inside-the-park home run and could have sent him in right there," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "He's pretty good. Even in a little bit of pain, he's able to contribute that like. It's a pretty exciting play."
Correa's mad dash was the fastest Astros home run sprint recorded by Statcast™ (since 2015), beating the previous mark of Jake Marisnick (17.97) on May 1, 2015. It's the first inside-the-park homer by an Astros player since Jon Singleton on Aug. 2, 2014, against the Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park.
The homer is the fourth inside-the-park homer by an Astros player at Minute Maid Park (since 2000), and the 40th in team history.
Correa, who fouled a ball off his foot Sunday in Arlington against the Rangers and aggravated it fielding a ball in the second inning Monday, said he wanted to play after he received his World Series championship ring prior to Tuesday's game.
"I want to be out there with my team on a special day, a special occasion. You never know if you'll win another one," Correa said before the game. "I really want to be out there. I think I'll be fine."
Hinch said Correa would likely be held out of the Wednesday afternoon game against the Orioles, effectively giving him two days off. The Astros are off on Thursday before opening a three-game series against the Padres on Friday in Houston.
"He can move to tolerance," Hinch said. "We're going to take another shot at him playing. It's really just an annoyance more than it's an injury, and he's going to have to handle a little bit of discomfort."
He handled it just fine in the first inning Tuesday.