Yordan wins it for Astros: ‘I’ve been in those moments before’
HOUSTON — There was actually no foolproof transfer the White Sox might have made in Friday evening’s seventh inning, with Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez coming to the plate and nowhere to place him. Do you permit within the right-hander? Do you convey within the southpaw and play the percentages on a lefty-on-lefty matchup?
It turned out to be a lose-lose proposition for White Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol, who summoned lefty Jake Diekman from the bullpen and watched him quit a three-run double to the fearsome Alvarez. That wakened the group at Minute Maid Park and turned out to be the distinction within the Astros’ 6-3 win over the White Sox.
“I think everybody knows I’ve been in those moments before,” Alvarez stated. “I just tried to stay calm, try to get a good pitch to hit and we got the result.”
Alvarez had a number of of these moments within the playoffs final 12 months, when he hit three go-ahead homers within the sixth inning or later in Houston’s championship run. His three-run, 450-foot homer off Phillies reliever José Alvarado within the sixth inning primarily put away Game 6 of the World Series final 12 months and additional etched Alvarez’s title in Houston postseason lore.
The stakes weren’t wherever as excessive on Friday, within the second recreation of the season towards the White Sox. The Astros’ late five-run rally — Kyle Tucker hit a two-run homer within the sixth to chop Chicago’s result in 3-2 — and Alvarez’s three-run double supplied a wanted spark to an offense lacking injured stars Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley.
“He cleared the bases,” Astros supervisor Dusty Baker stated. “The swing by Tucker was equally as important. … We got some big hits tonight. We waited awhile, but it doesn’t matter, just as long as you’re winning the game. We had a big inning and that was huge with some two-out hits.”
The Astros had been trailing, 3-2, within the seventh with no runners on base and two outs once they rallied towards Kendall Graveman, who loaded the bases by yielding two walks and a single. Alvarez got here to the plate to the roar of the group — and a pitching change. Diekman, a lefty, changed Graveman, a right-hander.
“I saw that they went out and talked to the pitcher, the trainer came out for a little bit,” Alvarez stated. “I figured they were going to be stalling a little bit, so I prepared myself and knew I was going to face the lefty. I faced him before and I was ready.”
Alvarez drilled a 1-0 sinker to the wall in left-center and over the pinnacle of left fielder Andrew Benintendi, whose diving catch in left discipline at Minute Maid Park clinched the 2018 pennant when he was nonetheless with the Red Sox. He couldn’t fairly corral this one, with Martín Maldonado, Jeremy Peña and Alex Bregman scoring to make it 5-3.
“We’ve seen it over and over and over again,” Baker stated. “The guy’s been a big-time run-producer. … We feel very confident when he’s at the plate. The fans feel confident because they’ve seen it a number of times. He hits lefties so well, [as] the opposing manager, it’s something you almost have to do. If you don’t bring the lefty in, they’re going to ask why you didn’t bring in a lefty. You’re still trying to play the odds. The guy’s been great.”
Alvarez’s 33 RBIs by a left-handed hitter towards left-handed pitchers had been the third-most within the Major Leagues final season, behind Tucker (47) and Atlanta’s Matt Olson (36).
“Alvarez is only a good hitter,” Grifol stated. “[Diekman] left a fastball out over the plate a little bit and [Alvarez] made a good swing on it. I liked the matchup, for sure.”
Baker stated previous to Thursday’s season-opener that he wouldn’t have the ability to play Alvarez every single day early on, since he was restricted to seven at-bats within the spring. Alvarez confirmed up at camp with a sore left hand and didn’t get right into a Grapefruit League recreation till the ultimate week of spring, however he had been working extensively on his protection on the again fields.
Alas, Baker stated Alvarez will probably be within the lineup at designated hitter on Saturday.
“I feel good physically, but that is something we talked about in Spring Training,” Alvarez stated. “I didn’t play in a lot of games and that’s something we talked about — maybe play three games and rest a day. Maybe until we get in the heat of it and be ready to go.”
