Yordan Alvarez on base three times in win Saturday

Alvarez put the Astros on the board in the first inning, driving in a run on a sacrifice fly. He then knocked a base hit in the sixth before driving in a second run on a solo homer off Daniel Duarte in the eighth. The home run was his 37th of the season, tying a career high. Alvarez is hitting .320/.435/.613 with 90 runs scored and 93 RBI across 588 plate appearances.

Alvarez doubled in the fifth inning to drive home Nick Allen and put the Astros up 2-0. On the next at-bat, Alvarez would come around to score on an RBI double by Issac Paredes. Alvarez doubled again in the seventh inning to drive in another run, extending the Astros’ lead to 4-0. Alvarez has hit safely in each of his last three games and is slashing .283/.405/.433 in the month of August.

Alvarez drew a walk in the home half of the first inning and scored on a wild pitch. He then blooped a double down the left field line to start the third inning, but never advanced past second base. He was then pulled in the fifth inning to give him a bit of a rest, finishing the night 1-for-1 officially. He’s having an unbelievable season at the dish, slashing a monstrous .319/.432/.613 with 36 homers and 88 RBI in 553 plate appearances.

It’s Alvarez’s third career three-double game, matching his number of three-homer games. He’s the major league leader with a .330 average, a .442 OBP, a .650 slugging percentage and 35 homers and the American League leader with 77 runs scored and 84 RBI.

Alvarez put the Astros on the board early, taking Reid Detmers deep for a solo homer in the first inning. After drawing a walk in the seventh, he delivered a clutch hit in the top of the ninth, driving in the go-ahead run with a single. The 29-year-old slugger is slashing an MVP-worthy .325/.435/.647 with 35 homers, 74 runs scored, and 80 RBI across 469 plate appearances.

Alvarez is like an old school heavy-weight boxer. He leans on his opponents until he finds the opportunity to deliver the knockout blow. Then, he puts them to sleep. He and Sandy Alcantara had battled three times over the first seven innings of this game. Despite notching one hit, Alvarez put the ball on the ground three times, which is rare for him. He also swung at one of the first two pitches he saw in all three at-bats, also something he rarely does. In an increasingly odd fourth matchup with the same pitcher in the same game, Alvarez waited back until Alcantara’s third pitch and drove a fastball for an opposite field home run and a late lead the Astros wouldn’t give back. That brought him to 34 home runs and 77 RBI on the season, each now league-leading marks by just one. His .328 batting average is also best in the American League by a wide margin as he has the triple crown in his sights with just over two months of baseball left to play.

Alvarez’s three balls in play tonight checked in at 114.2, 113.8 and 108.3 mph. The AL MVP favorite is now tied with Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead with 33 homers. He’s second in the majors with a .324 average and 75 RBI and first with a 1.083 OPS.

Alvarez slugged his 19th double of the year off Andrew Kittredge in the 10th inning to tie the game 2-2. The Astros would go on to lose 4-2 in 11 innings. Alvarez, the 29-year-old MVP candidate, is hitting .320 with a 1.065 OPS and 72 RBI.

Alvarez’ home run was his 31st of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Kumar Rocker in the first inning. Alvarez is hitting .315 with a 1.055 OPS and 70 RBI with one game remaining before the All-Star break.

This was a special home run for Alvarez. First off, because he’s the first player in the American League to reach 30 on the season. Also, it was the 200th of his career. Lastly, he absolutely clobbered it. At 455 feet it was the furthest home run he’s hit this season and he took a moment to stare and admire it. His pursuit of a triple crown wages on with 30 home runs, 68 RBI, and a .312 batting average with two games left before the All-Star break.