Houston Astros take Game 1 over Boston Red Sox in ALCS

Homers from Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve helped the Houston Astros to victory against the Boston Red Sox at Minute Maid Park.

Stats PerformUpdate: Oct 16th, 2021 01:53 EDT

Major League Baseball

Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve lifted the Houston Astros to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS).

Astros take Game 1 against Red Sox

Correa and Altuve homered as the rallying Astros drew first blood in the best-of-seven series at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Friday.

The Red Sox, who stunned the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Division Series (ALDS), led 3-1 early on the road – Kike Hernandez the architect with a solo shot in the third inning.

Correa is the Spanish translation for October.#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/ncglYnZLHN

— Houston Astros (@astros) October 16, 2021

But the Astros wiped out the deficit behind Altuve and 6.1 scoreless innings from their bullpen.

Altuve levelled the game with a two-run homer in the sixth inning – his 20th postseason homer as he became the fourth player to achieve the feat.

The Astros star also became the fastest player (68) to reach 20 playoff home runs. Altuve has now scored 11 runs in Houston’s five playoff games this season. According to Stats Perform, that is tied with Carlos Beltran (2004) for the most runs in any five-game span in a single postseason.

Living legend.#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/oTZeBObviQ

— Houston Astros (@astros) October 16, 2021

Correa then completed the comeback in the seventh with his 18th postseason homer – tied for seventh-most all-time, while he recorded his 55th playoff RBI, the most among active players.

It saw Correa celebrate his fourth career go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later of playoff games, the most in postseason history.

Hernandez – the fourth player to have multiple four-plus hit games in the same postseason, after Albert Pujols (2011), Robin Yount (1982) and George Brett (1985) – homered again for the Red Sox in the ninth but it was not enough to prevent the Astros from winning.