Alvarez's slam boosts Astros, but K's costly vs. Twins

MINNEAPOLIS -- With one mighty swing of the bat Saturday, the Astros suddenly had a pulse and a chance. Yordan Alvarez’s third-inning grand slam wiped out an early four-run deficit to the Twins and gave Houston a chance to start anew at Target Field.

Minnesota pitchers responded by sending down the next 17 Astros hitters -- a streak that was broken in the ninth, when Jeremy Peña clubbed a two-run homer. Houston brought the potential tying run to the plate, but a game-ending strikeout of Yainer Diaz sealed the Astros’ 9-6 loss at Target Field and meant Alvarez’s grand slam was for naught.

Alvarez went 1-for-4 with this third career grand slam and third homer of the season, a rocket off Twins starter Joe Ryan that left the bat with an exit velocity of 116 mph -- the fifth-hardest-hit ball of his career. The homer tied the game at 4 and gave Alvarez 14 RBIs in the eight games he’s played this season.

“It definitely feels good to be doing that, but that’s not something that I really think about or look at,” Alvarez said. “Whenever I go up there, I try to get the job done and help the team as much as I can. After a while, numbers are going to accumulate, but it’s not really something I’m really paying attention to or think about when I’m up there hitting.”

When Martín Maldonado and Chas McCormick singled with one out in the third inning and Alex Bregman drew a walk, Ryan was in a tough spot. Alvarez is one of the most dangerous and imposing hitters in the game. He crushed a first-pitch fastball down the middle and lined to right, where it bounced on the top of the fence and went over.

“Honestly, off the bat, I really didn’t think it was going to leave the yard,” Ryan said. “But again, one of the best hitters in the game, and that’s what he does. So you leave a fastball down the middle, it’s not the best guy to do that to.”

For Alvarez, it was about getting prepared while standing on the on-deck circle.

“I knew that Bregman was going to have a pretty good at-bat. I knew he was going to reach base,” he said, “so I already prepared myself mentally. I knew I was going to come up, and I went up there and had a good swing, and it happened.”

Alvarez is a career .425 hitter (17-for-40) with the bases loaded. His previous grand slam came June 24, 2021, against the Tigers in Detroit. His first career grand slam was Aug. 10, 2019, in a 23-2 win over the Orioles in Baltimore. This was the first one he’s hit in a loss.

“What can we say about that man?” Peña said. “Yordan Alvarez is one of the best hitters in the game right now, and we feel like we can always count on him. One player doesn’t win ball games. We’ve got to keep following behind him.”

After Alvarez’s homer, Houston didn’t manage another hit until the ninth inning, when the Astros trailed, 9-4. They went 0-for-17 and fanned 11 times between. Houston struck out 17 times in the loss, giving it a franchise-record 33 strikeouts in the past two games, a pair of losses that dropped them to 3-6.

“It’s very shocking,” manager Dusty Baker said. “We’ve got to get on those breaking balls and swing at the strikes. They get strike one basically with the breaking ball, and they’re expanding the zone after that. They’re pitching us tough. They got everything they needed. They need a couple of three-run homers, they got some two-out RBIs, singles, and between [Kyle] Farmer and [Christian] Vázquez, they were getting some clutch hits against us [5-for-9 with runners in scoring position].”

Peña, who struck out in his first three at-bats Saturday before connecting on his second homer, hopes Houston’s ninth-inning rally, during which it brought the potential tying run to the plate and forced the Twins to summon closer Jhoan Duran, will spark the offense.

“It’s just a matter of putting good at-bats together for the whole team, kind of picking each other up,” he said. “We kind of did that in the last inning, but at that point, it was too late. Hopefully tomorrow we can start it from the jump.”