They entered uncharted territory Saturday when they jumped all over Phillies starter Zack Wheeler in the first inning of Game 2, to the tune of three doubles in four pitches. Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña doubled on the first pitch of their respective at-bats, whereas Yordan Alvarez had the decency to take one before hammering a slider off the wall in left field.

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It was the first time in MLB history a team had led off a World Series game with three extra-base hits, and those doubles helped the Astros grab a 2-0 lead. The margin ballooned to 3-0 later in the frame thanks to a throwing error by shortstop Edmundo Sosa error that plated Alvarez.

Wheeler mostly settled in from that point forward — sans a two-run Alex Bregman home run run in the fifth — but unlike in Game 1, the Phillies weren’t able to overcome the early deficit.

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The Astros also became just the fifth team in MLB history to hold 5-0 leads in the first two games of the World Series, joining the 1937 Yankees, 1987 Twins, 2004 Red Sox and 2010 Giants. The Astros are the only club to not go up 2-0. All those other teams went on to win the World Series,

The Astros are hitting .246 with an OPS of .765 through two games, and they have three homers to the Phillies’ one. They’re hoping their Game 1 collapse doesn’t come back to haunt them; Game 2 was a step in the right direction.

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Clearly, whatever the Astros are seeing early in games is working, and Altuve’s big night has the makings of being a harbinger of doom for the Phils. Altuve went 3 for 4 after having four hits in the entire postseason entering Saturday.

“Tried to just get my pitch and then I got a couple good ones that I could put a good swing on, and just get some hits,” Altuve told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal after the game.

Altuve also said that his timing was back.

“I feel good, I felt really good,” he said. “Timing, confidence, everything was there tonight. And hopefully I keep going.”

Astros manager Dusty Baker said a return to form was never in doubt.

“The main thing is he’s taking the barrel of the bat to the ball,” Baker said when he was asked what was different with Altuve. “He’s not dragging it, he’s popping it. And (it was) just a matter of time before he was going to hit, because this guy’s been hitting all his life, and he’ll be hitting forever.”

If Altuve becomes a consistent fire-starter for the Astros’ offense, the Phillies’ pitching staff will have a lot of pressure on it moving forward. That was certainly the case Saturday.