Yordan Alvarez blasts grand slam in victory

Alvarez put the Astros on the board in the first inning, taking Drew Rasmussen deep for a two-run homer. He drove in a third run with a single in the fifth, then brought a fourth run home with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, he took Casey Legumina deep for a walk-off, two-run blast. The 29-year-old slugger drew some deserved MVP chants after the game. He’s up to 29 homers, 62 runs scored, and 67 RBI while batting .324/.433/.645 across 388 plate appearances.

Alvarez was quite literally the extent of the Astros’ offense here. His solo home run accounted for their only run and one of their three total hits. That was his 27th home run and 61st RBI of the season as he further positions himself for a triple crown pursuit in the second half. Also, it didn’t show up in the box score, but had a 118.5 mph groundout in the eighth inning. That was the hardest hit ball of his impressive career.

This was just another day at the office for Alvarez. Three batted balls hit harder than 100 mph, three more hits, a walk, and he raised his batting average to .319 in the process. His season is still so ridiculously impressive as we approach the All-Star break that the Astros’ broadcast flashed a triple crown graphic during this game. With 26 home runs and 60 RBI to go with that .319 average – each of which are top-two in the American League – it’s not a crazy conversation to have.

Alvarez celebrates his 29th birthday by taking a seat for the just the second time all season after going hitless in three consecutive games. It’s his first time out of Houston’s lineup since May 24. The 29-year-old slugger has been arguably the best pure hitter in baseball this season, slashing .314/.427/.619 with an American League-leading 25 homers and 56 RBI through 83 games. His 182 wRC+ is tops in baseball by a considerable margin. It’ll be Yainer Diaz taking a turn at DH with Brice Matthews handling left field.

Alvarez, who is second in the majors in homers and first in OPS, is obviously on track to make his fourth All-Star roster, but he’s never taken part in the Derby. He only really had a chance in 2024, as he was injured and didn’t take part in the All-Star Game in 2022 and ’23. He wasn’t an All-Star while missing most of last season.

Alvarez got the scoring started with a solo shot off Slade Cecconi in the bottom of the first. It was his 25th homer of the season. Fantasy managers are likely holding their breath with every game he plays, as his injury history has been painful to stomach at times. But so far in 2026, everything is coming together the way projections always made it seem possible. Alvarez has started all but one game for the Astros, putting him on track to set career highs across the board in counting stats.

Alvarez is on a different level right now. He became the first Astros player since Jeff Bagwell in 1994 to hit two home runs in the same inning, and Alvarez did so in the first. The second of which was a grand slam that capped off a legendary nine-run top of the first for the Astros where Alvarez drove home six of those runs. Those homers brought him to 24 on the season, which tied Kyle Schwarber for the league-lead. His 1.092 OPS also leads the league by a longshot and his .321 batting average is second in the AL. As of this moment, he’s the clear-cut MVP frontrunner in what’s been a sensational bounceback season after an injury-marred 2025.

There has been some speculation that the Astros could look to trade Alvarez at the deadline this year if they continue to fall out of playoff contention. The idea behind the speculation was that Alvarez would bring in a huge influx of talent for a roster that seems to lack depth, and it would rid the Astros of a defensive logjam created by Alvarez’s being a designated hitter. However, as Brown mentioned, Alvarez is in the fourth year of a six-year, $115 million extension, so there is no pressure on the Astros to trade him. They traded Kyle Tucker when he was heading into his final season, so there may be more reason to trade Alvarez after the 2027 season, if they followed the same path, but he’s not going anywhere for now.

Alvarez greeted rookie Kade Morris rudely in his major league debut with a second inning grand slam to put this game out of reach early. The ball got out in a hurry and nearly landed in the upper deck in right field at Daikin Park in Houston. He now has a 1.084 OPS to lead the league along with 22 home runs, one shy of Kyle Schwaber for the league lead there. If you told someone that Alvarez was the best hitter in baseball right now, they would struggle to argue with it.

Alvarez got the scoring started early, taking Bubba Chandler deep for a two-run homer in the first inning. He later drew a walk in the third, then drove in a run with a base hit in the ninth. The 28-year-old slugger is up to 21 homers while hitting an incredible .305/.419/.645 with 40 runs scored and 42 RBI across 267 plate appearances.