Written by Jake Kaplan at Houston Chronical.com
A faded superstar walked off the Minute Maid Park mound and disappeared into the visitors’ dugout. The worst start of Tim Lincecum’s decorated career was over shortly after it began, and soon, too, could be the Los Angeles Angels’ experiment of him in their rotation.
Jose Altuve and the Astros teed off on the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner in a 13-3 drubbing on Sunday. They scored four runs in each of the first two innings, the latter of which Lincecum did not survive. Their winning streak against the cellar dwellars of the American League West reached 11 games.
Altuve homered off Lincecum in the first and second innings and drove in a career-high six runs, bolstering his already MVP-caliber pace. Each longball set a new career high for home runs in a season. His 17 are the most by an Astros second baseman since Craig Biggio’s 21 in 2006.
With 64 games left in the regular season, Altuve is batting a major-league best .360 with a 1.003 OPS that ranks third. He has a legitimate chance to become the first player to lead the AL in batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases since Ty Cobb in 1917.
“The guy is a joke. He’s up there playing Xbox,” Astros right fielder George Springer said. “It’s something special to watch.”
Altuve is the first Astros player to own a .360 batting average this late in a season since Lance Berkman in 2001. Berkman batted .361 through July 24 that year.
“It’s really tough to face a hitter when you have (Carlos) Correa behind you and when you have Springer on base every time,” Altuve said. “It’s fun and I go almost every day to Carlos and Springer and thank them for what they’re doing for me.”
Ten games over .500 for the first time this season, the Astros’ string of success against the Angels matches their longest winning streak in one season against a single opponent. It’s their longest overall since 12-game winning streaks against the Reds and Phillies that spanned the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
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