'I'm not paying that bill': Yordan jokes following scoreboard-breaking BP HR
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ST. PETERSBURG -- There doesn’t appear to be any video available showing Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez crushing a batting practice ball and hitting the scoreboard above right field at Tropicana Field on Tuesday afternoon. And as long as that’s the case, the All-Star slugger is denying any responsibility for it malfunctioning.
"Was there a video showing it was me?” Alvarez said with a grin. “I don't know if there was, and I'm not paying that bill.”
A couple of Alvarez’s teammates, namely Mauricio Dubón and Alex Bregman, confirmed it was him who knocked out the scoreboard prior to Houston’s 3-2 win over the Rays. Alvarez hit multiple balls off the scoreboard, with one of them causing it to go dark for the entire game.
“I did,” third baseman Alex Bregman said when asked if he saw Alvarez hit the scoreboard. “It’s trending [on social media] right now, isn’t it? He had maybe a few balls off of it. He’s impressive to watch take BP, that’s for sure, and hit in the game.”
Dubón said he beat Alvarez in a batting practice home run derby Tuesday, and he challenged a reporter to ask Alvarez about it.
“It was supposed to be five [homers] and he took about 20 swings to be able to get those five,” Alvarez joked.
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A small scoreboard in straightaway center field was able to keep fans updated with the line score and the count, along with scoreboards above first base and third base.
Rays in-game stadium host Nate Kurant stood on the home dugout prior to the game and informed fans the scoreboard was having “technical difficulties.” Talk about an understatement.
Alvarez has done this kind of thing before.
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In his rookie season in 2019, Alvarez was believed to be the first person to strike “El Grande,” the massive scoreboard above right field at Minute Maid Park. The ball traveled an estimated 455 feet, the Astros said, and was struck so hard it temporarily cut the power to a panel on the lower-right portion of the scoreboard.
“That one I know well was me,” he said. “Nothing [major] happened to the scoreboard in that one. Sometimes in BP I try to put intention into some of those swings.”
There was no immediate word on the distance or exit velocity of Alvarez’s pregame blast Tuesday, though it was crushed. Alvarez, who has 25 home runs this season, recorded his 150th career blast on Aug. 6 and a day later slugged a homer with an exit velocity of 117 mph, which was his hardest-hit ball of the year.
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Workers appeared to have restored the scoreboard to working order about an hour after Tuesday’s game, but they might not want to put away their tools just yet. Alvarez will be taking batting practice before Wednesday’s series finale, too.