HOUSTON -- It took reigning American League Most Valuable Player Award winner Jose Altuve over 100 at-bats to clobber his first home run of the season, and he certainly didn't get cheated.
Altuve crushed a chest-high pitch from former teammate Nick Tropeano of the Angels and sent a tape-measure shot high over the left-field wall, giving the Astros a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Halos at Minute Maid Park,. It was Altuve's first home run since Game 5 of the 2017 World Series and first in the regular season since Sept. 19 of last year.
"It feels like a dream come true," Altuve said with a smile. "I was the last guy in the lineup without a homer, and I wanted to get that one out of the way, and I finally did."
Altuve's teammates gave him the silent treatment in the dugout, with Altuve strutting down the bench giving high fives into the air before being mobbed with congratulations.
"I was so lucky running the bases and so proud, and when I got to the dugout, I was like, 'OK, I know what's going on,' but still I was celebrating," Altuve said. "I know they were happy, but they wanted to give me the silent treatment."
Even manager AJ Hinch participated in the tomfoolery.
"Because you have to," Hinch said. "He was very excited to hit that home run. I'm not sure who created [the prank], but it was well-timed and well-executed."
The homer snapped Altuve's 35-game regular-season homerless drought, which was his longest since a 47-game streak in 2014. Altuve hit a career-high 24 homers in '16 and matched it last year before adding seven more in the postseason, including three in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Red Sox.
"I was swinging at pretty much every single pitch, and I got that one at least," Altuve said.