Yordan plays the hero once again for Astros

ATLANTA -- For a guy who says that he didn’t have a plan when he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning of a tied game Friday night at Truist Park, Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez sure came away with some fantastic results.

Alvarez, who entered the day leading the Majors in RBIs, added two more to his total when he clubbed a two-out, two-run homer off lefty reliever A.J. Minter in the ninth to break a tie and send the Astros to a 6-4 win in a clash between the previous two World Series champions.

The Astros, who won for the third time in four games, came back from 4-1 down in the first inning to get back to the .500 mark (10-10). Houston improved to 3-1 in a challenging part of its schedule in which it plays the Blue Jays, Braves and Rays in consecutive series.

“Obviously, it’s not a surprise to anyone,” said Alvarez, who has 23 RBIs through Houston’s first 20 games. “We’ve been battling since the first game of the season, so winning a game like today … It’s definitely very motivating for the team.”

Mauricio Dubón set the table for the Astros in the ninth with a one-out single. Dubón stretched his career-long hitting streak to 15 games, going 3-for-5 on the night. After Alex Bregman was robbed of a hit on a diving catch by left-fielder Kevin Pillar, Alvarez came to the plate looking to play the role of hero.

Alvarez worked the count to 3-2 against Minter, who committed a balk when he faked a throw to first during the at-bat, moving Dubón to second. With first base open, the Braves chose to pitch to Alvarez.

“Honestly, I went up there without a plan,” Alvarez said. “When the count got to 3-2, I knew he was going to throw a pitch in the zone. Obviously, [Jose] Abreu is behind me and he wasn't going to want to face him in that situation. I calmed myself down a little bit there and got the pitch.”

Alvarez hammered a cutter and it sailed 405 feet at 105.5 mph off the bat, according to Statcast, for his fifth homer of the season. He’s reached base safely in 18 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the American League.

“It’s a good feeling knowing I just have to get on base and I know I’m going to score,” Dubón said. “If [Alex] Bregman doesn’t do it, Alvarez is going to do it. If not [Kyle] Tucker, Abreu will do it. For me, it’s trying to get on base.”

The Braves jumped on Astros rookie starter Hunter Brown for four runs in the first before he righted the ship, managing to complete 4 2/3 innings. Astros manager Dusty Baker had to go deeper into his bullpen than he would have liked, but Brown’s recovery after the opening frame softened the blow.

“I always feel like we have a chance to win,” said Brown, who struck out seven batters while throwing 93 pitches. “The offense is doing great and the bullpen was great today, too, as well as the defense. We’re playing some good baseball and you've just gotta keep it rolling.”

Four Astros relievers -- Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly -- covered the final 4 1/3 innings without giving up a hit. Austin Riley’s leadoff single in the fifth inning off Brown was the Braves’ final hit of the game.

“[The game] didn’t start off real good at all, but you’ve got to give them credit for keeping those guys at four because they score a bunch,” Baker said. “Usually when they score like that early, they’re going to add on some more. That was a great job by the bullpen, great job by the offense and it was a good game to win. We finally got back to .500, so hopefully we can keep rolling. We know we’ve got some work to do on this road trip.”