Oakland’s Khris Davis crushes two-run home run to kick off ALDS (Video)

Khris Davis got the scoring started in the ALDS

The Oakland Athletics have plenty of power in their lineup, including the like of Marcus Semien, Matt Olson, and the banged-up Matt Chapman. However, one of their more unsung heroes surprisingly got the scoring started in the 2020 ALDS, as Khris Davis was the one who put the Houston Astros on their toes with an emphatic Game 1 blast.

Davis smacked a two-run home run into the Dodger Stadium bleachers off of Astros starter Lance McCullers, giving Oakland an early 2-0 lead in the second inning of Game 1. Davis now has four hits in postseason play, and three of them have left the yard.

Khris Davis struggled in the regular season

Of course, it’s Davis, who hit .200 with just 17 hits and two home runs in the regular season, that smacks a 2-0 home run off of McCullers, who has a 3.93 ERA, to open up the ALDS. Davis’ power was once up there with anyone else in baseball. On top of his unusual distinction of hitting exactly .247 in four straight seasons, Davis hit 42 or more home runs in three straight seasons. However, he has mustered just 25 homers in 163 games between 2019 and 2020.

Luckily for Davis, this is the postseason, and a good performance in these series could help him erase the last few years and win him back a place in the good graces of A’s fans. If his homers help reverse their postseason futility, Davis will go down in Athletics history.

Baseball continues to work in mysterious ways, as a guy with a 79 OPS+ just gave Oakland the lead over the hated Astros. McCullers’ deadly breaking ball and Houston’s deep lineup could easily mount a comeback, but it’s Oakland who draws first blood in this matchup of AL West rivals.