HOUSTON -- — Lance McCullers Jr. pitched seven innings for the first time since 2022 and Jose Altuve hit two of Houston's four home runs to help the Astros beat the Boston Red Sox 8-1 on Monday night. McCullers (1-0), who missed the 2023 and '24 seasons with injuries, allowed four hits and a run with nine strikeouts in his season debut. The home crowd gave the longtime Astro a nice ovation as he left the mound after his best start in years. Altuve, who tied a career high with four hits, had solo shots in the seventh and eighth innings for his 15th career multi-homer game. Yordan Alvarez had a two-run home run and Brice Matthews also homered as Houston won a third straight game after dropping its first two. The Astros led by one when Altuve singled to open Houston’s third before Alvarez sent his soaring shot into the second deck in right field to push the lead to 3-0. Boston starter Ranger Suárez had retired six in a row when Matthews homered to left-center field to start the fifth and leave the Astros up 4-0. Wilyer Abreu had two hits and drove in a run for the Red Sox, who have dropped three in a row since winning their opener. Suárez (0-1) permitted seven hits and four runs with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. The Astros added a run on a sacrifice fly by Yainer Diaz to make it 5-0 in the sixth. McCullers retired the first seven batters before Carlos Narváez singled with one out in the third. But Ceddanne Rafaela grounded into a double play to end the inning. McCullers struck out the side in the fourth and fanned Willson Contreras to open the fifth. Abreu singled after that, but Caleb Durbin grounded into a double play to end the inning. There were runners at first and third with two outs in the seventh when Abreu hit a ground-rule double to make it 5-1. Up next Boston RHP Brayan Bello makes his season debut against Houston RHP Hunter Brown, who pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings on opening day, when the series continues Tuesday night. ------ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb