Astros move Yordan Alvarez to LF for Game 2

Altuve’s 28th career postseason home run puts him one behind Manny Ramirez for the all-time lead. He had a chance to put Houston ahead in the ensuing frame but wound up flying out to right field with the bases loaded. It’s fair to wonder how much longer Houston will be able to sustain things with its current nucleus, which is comprised largely of remnants from the dynastic run earlier in the decade, including Altuve, alongside newer faces who have yet to lead the club to sustained playoff success. In some ways, being swept by an upstart White Sox team feels like a fitting end for this group with Chicago beginning to chart its own course in a fashion reminiscent of Houston’s own unexpected rise roughly a decade ago.

Alvarez had a couple chances to turn the tide in this one, most notably when he stepped to the plate with a pair of runners on-base and the Astros trailing by two runs in the fifth inning and lined out to left field harmlessly. The 29-year-old presumptive AL MVP Award front-runner went 1-for-8 as Houston was swept in the best-of-three series in their home ballpark.

There’s been some speculation that the Astros might give Altuve some DH time in the series, with Yordan Alvarez playing left, but that’s not happening in Game 1. The lineup: SS Jeremy Peña, DH Alvarez, 3B Isaac Paredes, 2B Altuve, C Yainer Diaz, 1B Christian Walker, CF Lucas Spencer, RF Cam Smith, LF Taylor Trammell.

The Astros will host the White Sox in the Wild Card. Walker has been pretty bad for five months, but he did come through really nicely in the end, homering in four of his final six games. He ends up with a .226/.299/.427 line, 29 homers and 87 RBI. Three years in a row now, he’s finished with 26-29 homers, 84-88 RBI and 72-73 runs scored.

The win keeps the Astros in control of their own destiny in advance of Sunday’s finale. If they win, they’re in, and if they lose, they could still advance with a loss from the Rangers. Peña, who had been slumping of late, turned in his sixth career two-homer game. It’s the first time ever that he’s scored four runs. He’ll take a .276/.325/.477 line into Sunday’s finale.

The triple crown isn’t happening, but Alvarez leads the majors with a .316 average, a .432 OBP and a .604 slugging percentage and is tied for second in the AL with 42 homers and is alone in second in the AL with 105 RBI. He’s almost certainly going to wind up with an MVP award.

Paredes got the final two innings off after fouling a pitch off his knee in the fifth. Expectations are that he’ll be good to go on Sunday.

Peña has gone 1-for-10 in a pair of contests since being hit by a pitch on the right wrist earlier this week. The 29-year-old technically didn’t end up missing any games since he entered Wednesday’s game as a pinch-runner. However, the issue seems to be impacting him at the dish. The Astros enter their final two regular-season games in a virtual tie with the Rangers for the AL West division title. Neither team will finish above .500 for the season, but someone technically has to make the playoffs.

The AL West should be ashamed of itself. With the loss, the Astros remain tied with the Rangers, and with both teams 79-81, it guarantees that the winner of the division won’t have a winning record. Walker gave the Astros a 1-0 lead with his solo homer, but the A’s scored the next six and Houston wasn’t able to complete the comeback. Walker has homered 28 times in his second season with the Astros, and he’s plated 85 runs.

Unbelievable. Spencer, who was recalled Wednesday and is no higher than the Astros’ fourth choice to be playing center field at the moment, hit balls 429, 385, 387 and 351 feet in his four at-bats tonight. All were homers except for the 385-foot flyout. Spence entered with just one career extra-base hit while going 6-for-40 for the Astros. He totaled 13 homers in 99 games in the minors this season. He’s the third player in major league history to hit his first three homers in the same game, but as cool as that is, it’s not quite as awesome as Joshua Báez doing it in his first major league game last month. The other to pull it off was Seby Zavala in 2021.