The Houston Astros were coming off perhaps their most devastating defeat of the season Wednesday, fearing it might have cost them the AL West title. They called up rookie Lucas Spence to replace center fielder Brice Matthews, who was placed on the injured list.
Certainly, they had no expectations but needed a body.
Spence, who wasn’t even drafted out of Southern Illinois, was hitting just .150 with one extra-base hit when he was sent back in April to Triple-A Sugar Land.
He came up Wednesday and didn’t collect a hit, but was back in the starting lineup Thursday − and just may have saved the Astros’ season.
He hit not one, not two, but three home runs with five RBI in the Astros’ 7-5 victory over the Athletics.
He became only the third player in MLB
history to hit the first three home runs of his career in the same game, according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
And just like that, the Astros are back tied with the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West with a 79-80 record and just three games remaining.
“That was fun, man, that was awesome,’’ Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters after the game. “I enjoy watching young players come up here. The biggest stage there is. We need some of these kids to step up and do big things, and (he) just delivered. …
“He hit three homers (in) a must-needed win.’’
Spence, who still was in disbelief after the game, had trouble describing his emotions on the Astros’ postgame show.
“That was really exciting,’’ Spence said. “It kind of helped me settle in after getting called back up. It’s nerves or whatever, and you take a good swing like that, it helps you settle in and build on the day and keep it going forward.’’
The Astros, coming off a deflating 10-inning defeat Wednesday night to the Seattle Mariners, couldn’t have asked for Spence’s heroics to come at a better time. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning, a solo homer in the seventh, and then led off the ninth with his third homer of the night.
“It means everything,’’ Spence said. “You know, you’re up here. You want to win. You want to get to the playoffs. It’s why we work every day. It’s everything to us.’’
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rookie Lucas Spence saves Astros' season with epic 3-homer game
