HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve needed video review to

confirm his first home run Wednesday night.His second shot was a no-doubter — just like the Houston Astros‘ status as a team to beat in the American League.Altuve hit two homers Daniel Castro Jersey , Carlos Correa homered with three RBIs and the Astros completed their first ever sweep of the New York Yankees with an 8-6 win Wednesday night.The Astros required late-game comebacks to win the first two games of the series but used a four-run fifth inning to break the finale open and held on for their sixth straight win despite a big eighth inning by the Yankees.It’s the first time since 2004 the Astros have swept a homestand of at least two series. They beat the Athletics three times this weekend before the Yankees arrived.The 5-foot-6 Altuve didn’t have an explanation for his recent power surge.“I want to know, too to do it again,” he said. “I’m as surprised as you are. I’m not used to hitting this many homers in two or three games, but I’ll take it.”Manager AJ Hinch said Altuve’s health and timing have contributed to the recent barrage, but he isn’t surprised by anything the 2017 AL MVP does.“He’s seeing the ball, sure, picking the right pitches of course (but) he’s just pretty damn good,” he said.Altuve hit his first one off James Paxton (1-2) to tie it at 1 in the first inning after Brett Gardner hit a leadoff homer for New York. Altuve’s hit was initially ruled a double, but a review showed it cleared the wall.The Astros were up by 1 with no outs in the fifth inning when Altuve connected off Paxton again. The towering shot clanged off the light pole atop the wall in left field to make it 4-2.A single by Michael Brantley chased Paxton, who was replaced by Tommy Kahnle. He was greeted by a two-run home run by Correa that extended Houston’s lead to 6-2. Houston made it 7-2 on an RBI single by Jake Marisnick with two outs in the inning.Houston starter Collin McHugh (2-1) allowed four hits and two runs while striking out nine in six innings for his second straight win.Yankees slugger Luke Voit hit a two-run homer off Josh James with no outs in the eighth, DJ LeMahieu hit an RBI double and Clint Frazier added a sacrifice fly to make it 7-6. There were two outs in the inning and a runner on third when Ryan Pressly took over and struck out pinch-hitter Gary Sanchez.Pressly stayed on for the ninth, allowing one hit in a scoreless inning for his first save.The Astros jumped on Paxton for eight hits and five runs in four-plus innings after he went 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four starts against them last year while with Seattle. He wasn’t helped when Gardner badly misplayed Yuli Gurriel’s drive to center, resulting in an RBI triple in the first.“We got to tighten up a little bit, play a little bit better, but I believe we are really close to turning the corner … this is a little bump in the road,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That is inevitable in a major league season, and we will work our way out of it.”TRAINER’S ROOMYankees: Sanchez didn’t start Wednesday because of tightness in his lower leg. … 3B Miguel Andujar (right shoulder) made 25 throws from 60 feet Wednesday. “I think he felt a lot better than he expected,” Boone said. He will play catch and swing a bat Friday. If that goes well, he’ll start throwing from 90 feet Saturday. … OF Giancarlo Stanton (left biceps strain) hit off a tee on Wednesday. … OF Aaron Hicks (lower back strain) will do soft toss www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey , hit off a tee and run on a treadmill this week, and Boone said they hope that by next Wednesday he’ll be hitting in the cage and be on the field running and throwing.Astros: 3B Alex Bregman was out of the lineup Wednesday after leaving late in Tuesday night’s game with a sore hamstring. Manager AJ Hinch doesn’t think the problem is serious and hopes that he can return Friday.YANKEES MOVENew York optioned RHP Jonathan Loaisiga to Triple-A after Tuesday’s game and recalled RHP Joe Harvey from Scranton before Wednesday’s game. Harvey made his major league debut in the fifth inning and yielded one hit in two scoreless innings.UP NEXTYankees: New York is off Thursday before beginning a series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. The Yankees haven’t announced their Friday starter, but Boone said CC Sabathia will come off the injured list to make his first start of the season Saturday.Astros: Houston has a day off Thursday and opens a three-game series at Seattle with Wade Miley (1-1, 2.31 ERA) on Friday night. Miley allowed four hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win against Oakland in his last start. Whit Merrifield’s new contract would suggest that he’s in it for the long run in Kansas City, but I don’t think his future is as set in stone as people think."I can’t tell you how happy I was to learn the details of Whit Merrifield’s new contract with the Kansas City Royals. Upon reading the news about an “extension,” I was a bit terrified. Whit was on a cheap, controllable deal for four years, why did he need “extended.” Thankfully the details were released rather quickly and we find that the Royals got one heck of a deal on their late-blooming star.So Whit Merrifield has a new four-year contract and he’ll be the Royals second baseman for the foreseeable future, right? Well, I’m not so sure.Something has to give. The first and perhaps most obvious issue with the Whit Merrifield contract come in regard to Nicky Lopez. Nicky Lopez is the Royals fifth best prospect according to the folks over at Baseball America. Lopez is coming off his age-23 season in which he posted a 127 wRC+ at AA and a 109 wRC+ in his first bout at AAA. Lopez has a career .371 OBP in the minor leagues, and ought to be big league ready by mid-season. So how do the Royals fit him into the picture considering Whit Merrifield’s new contract?The first thing I want to make very clear is that the Royals have options. The Whit Merrifield contract in no way limits how the Royals will construct their roster over the next four years. If anything, it may actually give them more roster flexibility. Let’s talk about two scenarios that involve Whit Merrifield and the rest of the Royals roster over the next four seasons.1.) Whit Merrifield plays out the entire contract in Kansas CityLet’s say the Royals choose to keep Whit Merrifield long-term but don’t pick up his option for the 2023 season. How will this affect the Royals roster and minor league players between 2019 and 2022? To begin, here are some guys I think could be affected by Whit Merrifield’s presence on the roster:Nicky LopezBlake PerkinsNick HeathKyle IsbelMichael GigliottiGabriel CancelDJ BurtThe seven players mentioned above all play or project to play LF, CF, or 2B at the big league level, the three positions that I expect Whit Merrifield to play during his time in Kansas City. Nicky Lopez will be ready to assume big league time at 2B in 2019. Blake Perkins and Nick Heath could both be options in LF/CF in 2020, along with Kyle Isbel and Michael Gigliotti in 2021. Gabriel Cancel and DJ Burt are other 2B options that I like for KC that could be big league ready by 2021 as well (though with Nicky Lopez around they could probably play 3B also).So here are the questions that the Royals must ask themselves for scenario number one:Can we legitimately compete for the playoffs with Whit Merrifield by 2022?Will 32/33/34-year old Whit Merrifield be a better option during the playoff run than any of the aforementioned prospects?My personal best theory is this: Billy Hamilton and/or Alex Gordon are traded at the 2019 July deadline to be a fourth outfielder/defensive replacement on a contending team, Whit Merrifield makes a semi-permanent move to the outfield, and Nicky Lopez takes over full-time at 2B for Kansas City. Then the question becomes focused around the Royals outfield prospects. Will an outfield consisting of Kyle Isbel Kyle Freeland Jersey , Seuly Matias, Michael Gigliotti, Blake Perkins, and Khalil Lee be a better option for KC by 2021? What about in 2022? If you asked me to play crystal ball, I would venture to guess yes. Which brings us to scenario number two...2.) Whit Merrifield is traded over the next couple of seasons.Don’t be fooled by Whit Merrfield’s new contract, he is absolutely still on the trade market. There will be plenty of folks who disagree with this take (@Shaun), but I truly believe that Whit’s new contract may make him MORE appealing for opposing teams. Cost certainty and affordability are never a bad thing. Teams don’t have to play the guessing game with arbitration. If Whit Merrifield were to go out and post a 7 fWAR season in 2019, after posting a 5.2 fWAR season in 2018, he’d certainly be looking at more than $5M he’s owed in 2020. But we know the Royals don’t want to trade him. Dayton Moore loves Whit Merrifield and I expect him to be in Kansas City for a while, but there are certainly circumstances in which I could see the Royals moving on from Merrifield before the end of 2022. What would those circumstances be?The aforementioned group of prospects, namely Lopez, Gigliotti, Perkins, and Isbel, would have to be successful enough to outperform Merrifield, or perform as adequate replacements for him during a playoff run. The Royals certainly won’t trade Merrifield until he has an adequate, in-house replacement ready to go.The Royals run into a setback during their rebuild. Players regress, players get hurt, prospects burn out www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-bettis-jersey , the White Sox win 120 games/year for three years, what ever may be the case, the Royals are still scraping the bottom of the barrel in 2021. If the end of the rebuild doesn’t come into the picture by then, it may be in the Royals best interest to flip Merrifield for prospects to bring the end into sight. Whit Merrifield’s production regresses a bit and both scenarios 1 and 2 are all of a sudden true. The Royals aren’t in playoff contention ANDthey have prospects that present better options. Here’s the beauty of the entire thing: at least one of the aforementioned prospects will work out. At least one of the aforementioned prospects won’t work out. But no matter what, the Royals will have security in the form of Whit Merrifield. Merrifield is the ultimate bandaid for a team that is potentially vying for a playoff spot with a hole or two in the lineup. He can play 2B, LF, and CF well. He can fill in in RF, 1B, and 3B in a pinch. The Royals don’t need him to be “the” second baseman, or “the” left fielder. Much like Ben Zobrist has done throughout his career, Whit Merrifield can move around with the best of ‘em.It’s these unique abilities that also what makes him attractive to other teams. If the Royals ever find themselves in a situation in which they have adequate position players all around the diamond, Merrifield may present more value to the team in a trade. Or perhaps he would have value as a utility player coming off the bench as he gets further into his 30’s. In any case, Whit Merrifield’s new contract guarantees that the Royals will have some surplus value along the way, be it with him on the field, or in a trade. In any case, this appears to be a great deal for the Kansas City Royals and Whit Merrifield.