The Houston Astros could not have asked for a better start on Thursday night in the first of a four-game set against the Athletics — a series that will determine whether or not they make it to this year's postseason. In the first inning of play, Astros center fielder Lucas Spence hit a three-run home run to open the scoring for his team and basically set the tone for an incredible night at the plate.

Spence came up with huge homers for the Astros en route to ending with three long balls on the night. His second home run of the night came in the seventh, when he broke a tie and gave Houston the lead, 5-4, with a solo shot. And then just for insurance, he hit another dinger in the ninth to give Houston a 7-5 lead, which would end up being the game's final score.

Entering Thursday night, Spence hadn't yet hit a home run in his brief big-league career to that point. In 15 MLB games (45 at-bats), he has an OPS of .419, making his three-home run game all the more impressive.

Article Continues Below

The Astros center fielder, as per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, became just the third player in MLB history to hit all three of his first career home runs in the same game. He joins Joshua Baez, who accomplished that feat for the St. Louis Cardinals on the 15th of August this year, as well as Seby Zavala, who was the first player to pull this off when he did on July 31, 2021.

The Astros need every bit of help they can get as they try to beat out the Texas Rangers for the AL West crown. Houston owns the tiebreaker over Texas (by virtue of winning the season series, 9-4) so their fate is in their hands. They only have to match the Rangers' record for the final three games to claw into the postseason.

Houston will end their series on the road against the A's, while the Rangers will be heading to the road as well for a three-game set vs. the Minnesota Twins.