WEST SACRAMENTO -- Astros rookie outfielder Lucas Spence may have saved the season Thursday night, and made some history in the process.
Spence became the third player in Major League history to hit his first three career homers in the same game -- including a solo shot in the seventh that broke a tie -- en route to driving in five runs to send the Astros to a crucial 7-5 win over the A’s at Sutter Health Park.
“It was really shocking, to be honest,” Spence said. “Just really trying to get base hits, but sometimes you run into a couple of homers, so it’s always good.”
The win kept the Astros (79-80) in a first-place tie atop the American League West with the Rangers, who beat the Mets earlier Thursday. The Astros have the tiebreaker over Texas and continue to control their own destiny with three games remaining in the regular season. Houston has three more against the A’s, while Texas begins a three-game series at the Twins on Friday.
Spence’s first career home run, a three-run shot in the second off A’s starter Mason Barnett that traveled a Statcast-projected 429 feet, put Houston up, 3-0, and his second homer came off reliever Scott Blewett in the seventh and put the Astros ahead, 5-4. Spence then led off the ninth with a first-pitch homer to right off Elvis Alvarado that put the Astros up, 7-5.
“It’s a great moment,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I enjoy watching young players come up here on the biggest stage there is. We needed some of those kids to step up and do big things, and he just delivered. Yesterday, they threw some fastballs by him. He comes today and makes some adjustments and hits three homers in a much-needed win.”
Spence joins Joshua Báez of the Cardinals, who homered three times in his Major League debut Aug. 15, and Seby Zavala of the White Sox (July 31, 2021) as the only players to hit their first three career homers in the same game. Thursday was Spence’s 16th Major League game.
“It’s kind of crazy,” he said. “Even just to be a big leaguer is still crazy. Just to be able to be even more niche is even crazier.”
The Astros were able to recover all three home run balls, according to longtime bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte.
He said he was able to get the first one from a kid in the stands in exchange for some batting gloves and a ball signed by the entire bullpen. Reliever Bryan Abreu grabbed the second one after nearly catching it on the fly. And the third was thrown back into the bullpen by A’s right fielder Lawrence Butler.
“We ran into a hitter tonight that had a career night, and that happens in this game sometimes,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said.
Spence was recalled from the Houston taxi squad Wednesday because of Daulton Varsho’s wrist injury and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in a loss in Seattle. He said he made some adjustments on Thursday to be more on time with his swing.
“I was late on a lot of fastballs [Wednesday] night, and I talked to some coaches here and worked on some things to get me back on time and back in the groove and get some rhythm,” he said.
Spence hit a combined 12 home runs this season at Sugar Land and Double-A Corpus Christi, where he began the year. This is the second stint in the big leagues this season for Houston’s No. 12-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, who was an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in 2024.
“I think he’s shown the ability to make good swing decisions and knows the strike zone enough to where he’s short and direct and puts the ball in play,” Espada said. “That’s something that was attractive to me, especially guys in the bottom of the order who can run.”
Another rookie, right-hander Miguel Ullola, threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen after starter Peter Lambert lasted just 2 2/3 innings Thursday. That came two days after Ullola threw 33 pitches in two scoreless innings in Seattle.
“These kids, they’re coming up here and want to be part of this,” Espada said. “We need them to step up, and Miggy was throwing strikes. He’s got some really good stuff. That was a huge performance there.”
Spence said his phone was blowing up after the game, which caught him by surprise.
“I was kind of shocked at the amount of people who are still awake right now,” he said.