'He had a big night': Tucker puts on a show in return to Houston

HOUSTON -- An assortment of fans in the right-field seats at Daikin Park arrived wearing shiny gold crowns on Saturday night. It was a similar scene one night earlier in Houston, when Kyle Tucker returned for the first time since the Astros dealt the star to the Cubs over the winter.

The crowns were in recognition of “King Tuck” -- the moniker the right fielder earned during his years as a key piece of multiple playoff and World Series runs with Houston. In a 12-3 victory for the Cubs on Saturday, Tucker swung his scepter here once again, collecting four hits, launching a key home run and putting on what was a familiar show for this crowd.

“He had a big night,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I’m happy for him to come back here and have a night where he gets the big three-run homer. That was an all-around great game.”

Tucker turned an outburst into an outpouring in the fourth inning, when he attacked a first-pitch slider at the top of the zone from his former teammate, Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. The ball rocketed off Tucker’s bat at 105.8 mph and soared to the right-field stands. A souvenir for his fans.

The three-run blast by Tucker -- his 17th shot of the season -- elicited a mixed response from the Houston crowd. There were audible cheers, but a smattering of boos. He had homered here before 62 times between the regular season and postseason, but never had Tucker belted one out as a member of another team.

Asked about the boos, Tucker smiled.

“That’s a good thing,” he replied. “That means we’re doing our job over here.”

Tucker’s shot helped fuel what grew into a seven-run flurry in the fourth against McCullers, who was gone after allowing a Seiya Suzuki triple one batter later. Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner sparked the rally with back-to-back blasts, Ian Happ added a run-scoring single and Pete Crow-Armstrong capped things off with a sacrifice fly.

The seven-run inning came after Astros rookie Cam Smith put the Cubs behind, 2-1, with a two-run blast off in the third. It was the second game in a row with a homer for Smith -- one of the players dealt to Houston in the trade to land Tucker. Any momentum Houston thought it had with Saturday’s blast was swiftly muted.

“It definitely felt significant,” Hoerner said. “And then obviously Tuck with the big blow to really break that game open. Just really consistent at-bats all day long. Nice to just keep adding on, adding on, adding on.”

Tucker, who is a finalist for a spot in the National League’s All-Star starting lineup (Phase 2 voting begins Monday), finished a triple shy of a cycle in the win. He singled in the first inning and stole second -- giving him an even 20 thefts on the year. Tucker doubled in the sixth and scored via a single from Dansby Swanson. In the eighth, he singled and trotted home when Suzuki crushed a two-run homer to left.

Beyond the homers and steals, Tucker is now batting .291/.396/.537 with 17 doubles, 52 RBIs, 61 runs scored and more walks (53) than strikeouts (52) through 82 games played. He currently ranks third in fWAR (3.9) in the NL, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (4.3) and Crow-Armstrong (4.0).

In right field, Tucker also showed why he picked up a Gold Glove Award with the Astros in his ’22 campaign. Cooper Hummel sent a pitch from Cubs righty Colin Rea deep into the right-center gap, where Tucker ran it down for the final out of the fourth. The play had a 60 percent catch probability, per Statcast.

That play came after Tucker threw Isaac Paredes out at the plate to end the first inning on Friday night.

“It’s fun to watch,” Rea said. “He’s making great throws out there. He made a really good catch in right-center tonight. It’s just fun to watch him. He’s super athletic. Obviously, he does what he does at the plate, but I think he gets slept on as far as what he can do in the outfield.”

Tucker tied career bests in both hits (four) and runs scored (four) in the win -- the type of performance Astros fans were used to witnessing.

“It’s cool. I played here for a good while. The fans here are great,” Tucker said. “Just to be a part of that fan base at the time was really special. It’s cool to catch up with everyone again.”