In the three-game series against the New York Mets, the Houston Astros annihilated Buck Showalter's players in two games at Minute Maid Park and completed the sweep. Houston scored four runs in the first inning against Mets starter Carlos Carrasco, with Alex Bregman hitting a two-run homer and slugger Yordan Alvarez homering twice off Carrasco as Houston jumped on him early and won.
Carrasco allowed a season-high three home runs before leaving with lower back tightness in the third inning with the Astros leading 5-1. Alvarez has 21 home runs this season, including one on Tuesday night. Alvarez, 24, leads all players with a 1.064 OPS and has nine home runs in his last 20 games.
Alvarez's first home run traveled 408 feet, and his second traveled 412 feet, giving him 14 home runs of at least 400 feet this season.
However, Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, in particular, was always skeptical that his hit would be that fast, and he admitted that when it was, it always fascinated him.
“Every time he comes up, we feel like there’s about to be a laser hit to left field or laser hit to right field or homer to center,” Bregman described. “He’s hitting the ball to all fields and it’s just special to watch.”
Even the Astros manager Dusty Baker praised Alvarez's tenacity in the field.
“He’s swinging the bat great,” Baker said. “If exit speed means anything, he is at the top of the world in exit speed. Just some of them are exiting over the fence.”
Bregman provided a two-run homer for the Astros, who won their third game in a row,
For the Astros, who won their third game in a row, Bregman added a two-run homer in five-plus innings. Houston starter Luis Garcia (5-5) allowed six hits and three runs while striking out five batters. Ryan Pressly earned his 14th save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Carrasco (8-3) allowed four hits and five runs in two-and-a-third innings before being injured.
The National League-leading Mets entered the game leading the series after winning four of their previous five games, but they have struggled in Houston, where they have lost eight consecutive games.
Alvarez’ Home Run
Since May 29, Alvarez has hit.452/.518/.904 (1.422 OPS) in 20 games. Entering Wednesday, he was second in the Majors in average exit velocity (95.9 mph), trailing only Giancarlo Stanton (96.0) of the Yankees and ahead of Judge (95.7).
Alvarez's home run rate is 13.26 per plate appearance, slightly higher than Barry Bonds' average of 13.30 plate appearances and 46 home runs in 2002. Alvarez has unquestionably surpassed the following five players in terms of homerun totals: Jeff Bagwell (1997, 1999, 2000), Lance Berkman (2002, 2006), Richard Hidalgo (2000), and Alex Bregman (2019).
It goes without saying that Alvarez is currently Astro's best player. The Astros genuinely think they averted the accident when Alvarez left Saturday's game with a hand injury and only skipped one game on Sunday. He returned to play on Tuesday and has accomplished nothing except strengthening his status as one of the best hitters in baseball.
