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BOSTON — George Springer stared into the night while the crowd ceased its cheering. Fenway Park on this Friday night felt like a playoff atmosphere, a packed ballpark drawing bated breath with each Rick Porcello pitch and grumbling after Springer sent this baseball into orbit.

He walked slowly up the first-base line and felt no rush to unhand his bat. The changeup he clobbered raced toward right-center field and disappeared into a young boy's mitt above the bullpen railing.

Springer's start to this season is splendid, on pace to torpedo any of the five which preceded it. The 17 home runs Springer's socked are halfway to his career-high of 34. His five leadoff long balls excite, providing a premier entrance for this loaded lineup into any game it plays.

Rarely, though, do they deliver a knockout, the sort of staggering blow that quiets a ballpark and seizes control of a close game. Springer's two-run home run on Friday delivered this, and then some. It resuscitated a lifeless Astros offense and afforded a lead they did not relinquish in a 3-1 win in Fenway Park — Houston's ninth straight victory and 30th overall.

Subdued for seven innings beneath a sizeable crowd in a boisterous ballpark, the Astros offense transformed on two Rick Porcello pitches in the eighth. Jake Marisnick stung a subpar slider down the left field line for a leadoff double. His next offering was a hanging changeup Springer crushed.

Springer is the first player in franchise history to hit 17 home runs in the team's first 45 games. He hit third base and pointed toward his jubilant dugout. Marisnick waited at home plate to party alongside Springer.

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