Kyle Tucker Joined Houston Astros Record Books During Win Against Angels
The Houston Astros continued their hot stretch on Tuesday night, defeating the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5. Now winning 10 of their last 13 games, the Astros are just five games out in the American League West.
While the start of the season wasn't ideal, they've played better recently, putting themselves in a position to battle in the division. Doing everything they can to stay afloat, left-handed slugger Kyle Tucker has been better than anyone.
Tucker, 27 years old, is slashing .293/.425/.649. His OBP and SLG lead the league, proving why he's regarded as one of the best hitters in the game.
Winning by one run on Tuesday night, Tucker was a major reason for the win, blasting another two home runs. Tucker's second home run was his 17th of the season. He currently has the most in Major League Baseball and will go down in Houston's history because of it.
According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, his 17 home runs tie a franchise record for the most in the franchise's first 49 games. It's just the third time it's happened as George Springer did it in 2019 and Morgan Ensberg did so in 2006.
With how the Florida native has performed during his career, it doesn't come as a surprise to see him playing the way he is. If he somehow could keep up this pace, he'll put himself in a great position to win the Most Valuable Player Award.
Nearly 50 games into the season, the two-time All-Star looks bound to get his third All-Star nod, which would make it three straight seasons of earning the honor.
Most importantly, the Astros won another game. They'll have a golden opportunity to make up ground in the division over the next week as they take on the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners in consecutive series starting on Friday.
JON CONAHAN
Jon Conahan has been covering all major sports since 2019. He is a 2022 graduate of the Bellisario School of Journalism at Penn State University and previously played D1 baseball.