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Tag: Yordan Alvarez

  • Three Down, Three To Go: Astros Face Mariners in Race for Division Crown

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    Every year it seems remarkable that despite every team playing 162 game, inevitably, there are at least one or two division races that come down to the final week of the season. That is the case for the Astros and Mariners who play their last regular season series at Daikin Park this weekend.

    After a sweep of the Rangers, the Astros all but sealed the fate of their Texas rivals, no only winning the Silver Boot, but likely pushing Arlington Dallas Texas out of the division race and possibly the postseason.

    This week lined up to be the most pivotal of the season and the Astros did what they needed to against the Rangers. Now, Seattle comes to town having just lost their first game after nine in a row, tied with the home team they are about to play in their home building, while sporting the best home run hitter in baseball — possibly the AL MVP. It’s going to be a barn burner.

    Here are some things to watch.

    Pitching vs. Pitching

    The Astros, despite the unrelenting injury issues, are still one of the best pitching squads in baseball. They lead the majors in strikeouts and are top five in WHIP and top 10 in team ERA. Seattle is among the better team pitching staffs in the American League. With the day off on Thursday, the Astros lineup their three best pitchers for the series: Hunter Brown (an AL Cy Young contender), Framber Valdez, and Jason Alexander. The Astros will most certainly see Bryan Woo and could see Logan Gilbert on Sunday, but will miss Luis Castillo who pitched Thursday in Kansas City.

    Astros Run Production

    The Mariners are 10th in baseball in runs while the Astros are 21st. In the last 10 games, the Astros have improved, but Seattle has been the best in the entire league. Finding ways to get runners across the plate has been a struggle for Houston all season. It won’t get any easier against the Mariners pitching. With games likely to be close and decided by small mistakes, the key will be how well the Astros hit with runners in scoring position, something they have steadily improved on throughout the year.

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    Rookie Zach Cole burst onto the scene this week in Yordan Alvarez’s absence.

    Jack Gorman

    The Long Ball Difference

    Seattle is third in baseball in home runs. When you have two players with 30-plus homers (one with 56), it is no shock that you are near the top in that stat. The Astros have two with more than 20 and a couple more who will probably get to 20 by the end of the season, but they aren’t in the class of the Mariners who have seven double-digit home run hitters. Both teams are susceptible to giving up the long ball, however, and in the confines of Daikin Park, that can mean a lot.

    Will Isaac Paredes return?

    When Yordan Alvarez sprained his ankle (even though the team got some decent news on that front Wednesday), rookie Zach Cole vaulted his way into Astros rookie lore with some dynamic swings at the plate. But another boost might come from Paredes who it was assumed would miss the rest of the season with a bad hamstring injury. Instead, he is likely to be back in the lineup at DH for a team that sorely needs his run production and, maybe more importantly, his ability to draw long plate appearances against opposing pitching.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Astros Week: Is It Time to Panic?

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    You might have sat home on a very Houston sports Sunday and thought, “Why, Houston sports? Why?” With the Texans meekly exiting a loss in Los Angeles and the Astros turning in a real gem of a stink bomb in Dallas, the vibes were positively awesome around here. For the Astros, however, things are starting to get very real, very fast. With fewer than 20 games left, this is a team that better figure it out and quick or it’s going to be a long, cold winter in Texas.

    Last Week Record: 3-4
    This Week Opponents: at Blue Jays (82-61), at Braves (64-79)
    Current Record: 78-66 (1st in AL West – 2.5 games)

    Losing our way to the top.

    The Astros are 4-6 in their last 10 games, 24-22 since the All-Star break. Way back then (all seven weeks ago), they were leading the division by as many as 7 games and it felt like they were cruising to another AL West title. But, the Mariners got hot, then the Rangers got hot, then everyone starting middling around and we have a dogfight. The Astros still control their own destiny as they like to say, but that only matters if you can actually win series. Lately, not so much.

    Yordan Alvarez is so back.

    The good news is Alvarez is not just back, he’s BACK. Since his return, he is absolutely dismantling pitching and taking walks like he’s steroid-era Barry Bonds. It was exactly the kind of return fans had hoped for. Thus far, it hasn’t changed the Astros fortunes very much as the rest of the lineup has been anemic at best, even with this weekend’s return of Jake Meyers as well. Fortunately, the lineup the Astros hoped to have at the beginning of the year is virtually intact — perhaps even a bit better. Now, they just have to produce.

    The schedule doesn’t favor the Astros.

    Around the All-Star break, the Astros had one of the easiest remaining schedules in baseball. Now, with just about three weeks, it’s the second toughest of the three AL West contenders after Texas. With series against the Blue Jays, Mariners and Rangers, it’s no easy sledding. Their last six games are against the A’s and Angels, but all of those are on the road. Yikes.

    This week is big. Next week is bigger.

    The biggest week of the season is next week when they host the Rangers followed by the Mariners. That six-game stretch will very likely decide the division. All possibilities are on the table from the Astros extending their lead to falling into third place and out of the postseason. If you love September baseball, next week is going to be huge for the AL West.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Astros Week: Many Happy Returns, Several Frustrating Losses

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    So many Astros fans have been holding their breath, waiting for the return of a number of key members of both the rotation and the lineup. Over the last couple weeks, they have gotten their wish with Yordan Alvarez, Spencer Arrighetti, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers, Jr. and Luis Garcia all coming back from injuries. Even Taylor Trammel is back on the big league squad and Jake Meyers isn’t far away.

    Yet, the home stand has been, well, meh. In seven games against the Rockies and Angles, the Astros are 4-3, not ideal when you consider the combined records of their opponents. They head into a series against the Yankees and Daikin Park in much better health and with a three-game lead in the division, but still not necessarily playing great baseball. Let’s discuss.

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    Cristian Javier had six no-hit innings on Friday.

    Photo by Jack Gorman

    Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia look good.

    After returning from injury, Javier has been solid if not spectacular. That changed Friday night when “El Reptil” went six no-hit innings in a 2-0 win over the Angels. He looked as dominant as ever, something that bodes well for the Astros as they get closer to the postseason. Meanwhile, Garcia in his first game back, was outstanding. He went six innings giving up three runs on just three hits and striking out six. All of the runs were scored in four at bats, two off home runs including a Crawford Boxes special that barely cleared the left field fence. It was the absolute best the Astros could have hoped for in the returns of both pitchers to the starting rotation.

    Lance McCullers in the bullpen didn’t go well.

    After a “short term” move to the bullpen, McCullers took the mound out of the pen for the first time on Sunday since 2018. The results were mixed. He had a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, but struggled in the eighth giving up two runs on three hits and two walks in a game the Angels ultimately won 2-0. For the former starter, the path to the postseason remains pretty clear: McCullers needs to be able to be a reliable long relief pitcher if he wants to get time on the mound. For the Astros, they have to continue to evaluate the right hander to see if he fits into their plans both short and long term. It’s complicated.

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    Yordan Alvarez has been great in is return.

    Photo by Jack Gorman

    Yordan Alverez has walked a bunch.

    The Astros lefty slugger has walked eight times since returned from injury last week. Teams are already pitching around him. Unfortunately, the players around him have rarely capitalized on his getting on base. Prior to Monday’s game, the Astros were something like one for one-thousand when they had runners in scoring position over the last week. Maybe that’s a stretch. It was probably more like 2-999. Anyway, Alvarez has looked very good at the plate and other pitchers clearly see that. That can only be a good thing for the team…if they can figure out how to get a hit after his plate appearances.

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    What a surprise Ramon Urias has been.

    Photo by Jack Gorman

    Ramon Urias has been the win of the trade deadline.

    Who would’ve thought this would be the win of the deadline. Sure, Carlos Correa has been outstanding both on the field and in a renewed leadership role. But, Urias has been a revelation. He has multiple home runs and absolute brilliant defense at second base where he had won a Gold Glove. The Astros have had to do whatever they can to keep him in the lineup because he has just been too valuable to sit.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • That Bang From Daikan Park Tuesday Was Actually a Sickening Thud

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    On Tuesday night, all the stars were aligned. The still first place Astros were at home against the worst team in baseball, the Colorado Rockies, the first night of a ten-game home stand that heavily favored the Astros. Their ace, Hunter Brown, was on the bump facing a brutally bad Rockies lineup, but most importantly, it was the return of Yordan Alvarez, who had spent nearly the entire season on the IL with a broken hand.

    No, it wasn’t Friday, so no postgame fireworks at Daikan, but fans were hoping for big things with the team almost fully intact again after a season of injury after injury.

    The baseball gods had other plans.

    While Brown was fine, going 6.2 innings giving up just two earned runs, and Alvarez got on base twice via walks, the Astros floundered with a pair of errors and too many men left on base, dropping a 6-1 decision to Colorado. Much like last about 10 days ago when they nearly had a perfect game thrown against them by someone who had a 7-plus ERA, Rockies pitcher Tanner Gordon (who?), he of his mighty 6-plus ERA gave up just one run (a Jesus Sanchez blast) in five innings of work against the home team.

    It was yet another anemic output by an Astros squad that has scored fewer than four runs in more than half of their games in 2025. When you add in a pair of really devastating errors that cost them four runs and an 0-for-all-night with runners in scoring position, it was not a the red carpet rollout for the return of Alvarez anyone was expecting.

    Was there good news? Definitely. Alvarez did look solid in his return flying out to the warning track once, walking twice and looking serviceable in left field. The Mariners lost to San Diego at home keeping the Astros one-and-a-half games ahead in the AL West. And, the team still has two more against the Rockies followed by four with the Angels, all at home.

    But Tuesday was another chapter in what has become an all-too-familiar story this season: a bad loss to a really bad team.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Astros Week: Surviving the AL West, Yordan Rehabbing for Real, Hader Out

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    The Astros are slowly but surely beginning to get players back from an injured list that was once 18 players deep. In their 124 games, they have had 117 different starting lineups. They have started 13 different pitchers and have had 28 different pitchers come out of the bullpen, not counting position players.

    Still, the struggles, mostly at the plate, continue. They are only 5-5 in their last 10 games. Good news: the Mariners aren’t faring much better. Let’s take a look at the week such as it was.

    No one is running away with the West.

    While the Astros have seemed to flail away recently, so have the one team vying for the AL West title with them. Seattle went on a 9-1 run to close the gap and even briefly tied the Astros atop the division. As of writing, they were 1.5 games back of the Astros, though that could change in nearly an instant. Both the Tigers and Blue Jays have pulled far enough ahead that it is unlikely whoever wins the West will challenge for a one or two seed in the playoffs and, at the moment, there are at least five teams in serious contention for the Wild Card spots.

    It is conceivable that either the Astros or Mariners miss the postseason altogether if they cannot win the division. There is a lot on the line and neither team is doing much to inspire confidence.

    Yordan Alvarez begins a rehab stint this week.

    If there was ever a time for good thoughts, prayers, spells cast, whatever you have to do to speed the Astros star slugger to a full recovery, get on that. On Tuesday, he will play in Corpus Christi, his first game action since the first week of May due to a broken hand. All indications are that he is nearing full strength and the Astros desperately need him. No word on how many rehab outings he will need. Just cross your fingers he stays healthy and gets back to the big league team as soon as possible.

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    Luis Garcia is looking close to returning.

    Photo by Jack Gorman

    Josh Hader is out for the regular season, probably the postseason as well.

    Hader has a capsule strain in his throwing shoulder, an injury that might be able to be rehabbed, but with the season quickly wrapping up, it would probably take some kind of miracle to get him back for the playoffs. He won’t even start throwing again for a few weeks and then will test things to see how it goes. Hader has been one of the best closers in baseball this season. His absence has strained an already thin bullpen that cannot afford even one more injury in a year loaded with them.

    Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers, Jr., Jake Meyers all could be back soon.

    The light at the end of the tunnel might not be a train after all. The reports on Garcia, McCullers and Meyers have all been positive. McCullers is with the team in Detroit though no decision has been made on when he will play or how the team will handle his return. Garcia is about to pitch his eighth rehab start. He has been very solid in his appearances thus far and should rejoin the Astros in the next few weeks. Meyers is close to getting his own rehab stint after good reports out of Florida where he is working on his calf injury.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Tigers-Astros Game 1: Three Things to Watch

    Tigers-Astros Game 1: Three Things to Watch

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    The Astros and Tigers begin a best of three game series to decide the AL Wild Card on Tuesday. While the Astros have the better record and home field advantage, the Tigers have been on a roll with the best record in the American League since the All-Star break. Astros former manager A.J. Hinch will face his former bench coach in Joe Espada in what should be an interesting series.

    Here are a few things to watch in game one.

    1. Will Yordan Alvarez return?

    The Astros best bat missed most of the final week of the season with swelling in his knee after an awkward slide into second base. According to the team, the swelling has subsided and Alvarez has been taking batting practice, but they have been coy as to whether he will see action in the series. If he does, it gives them one of the best 1-5 lineups in baseball even if he has to DH, pushing either Mauricio Dubon or Jason Heyward into the outfield. It could be a deciding factor in a shortened series.

    2. Tarik Skubal vs. the Astros bats.

    Skubal came just about out of nowhere and is likely to be a unanimous selection for the American League Cy Young Award this season. The Astros have been up and down at the plate all season, though they did put up four runs the last time they met Skubal. Because the series is a best of three, any loss has huge implications and Skubal will push Astros hitters to the limit. Because the starters behind Skubal are suspect, the Tigers really have to beat the Astros in game one. Expect their ace to be on his game.

    3. Famber Valdez vs. Detroit lefties.

    The Astros certainly have more firepower in their lineup than the Tigers, but the key may be the fact that Valdez is a left handed pitcher. Detroit’s two best hitters — Riley Green and Kerry Carpenter — are both lefties and have awful splits against pitching from the same side. Against righties, they rake. Southpaws, they are paltry at best. Carpenter is so bad, he often doesn’t play against left handed arms. To make things tougher, the Astros could start another lefty, Yussei Kikuchi in Game 3 if needed.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Astros Swept by Yankees to Open 2024 Season: Some Numbers to Demonstrate How Bad It Is

    Astros Swept by Yankees to Open 2024 Season: Some Numbers to Demonstrate How Bad It Is

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    The Astros dropped their fourth straight game to the Yankees on Sunday in a sweep to open the season. It was a brutal series for the Astros made up of some bad pitching, an absence of timely hitting and a bit of bad luck. This isn’t to say the Yankees aren’t a good team. They clearly are, perhaps better than some prognosticators suggested. The addition of Juan Soto, who just crushed the Astros all weekend, is clearly a huge move for them.

    The Astros got fairly solid pitching from some members of the rotation like Cristian Javier, Hunter Brown and J.P. France, who battled on Sunday. They also had some solid outings from relievers like Seth Martinez and Rafael Montero (a single solo home run notwithstanding). But, they gave up runs at the wrong times and left far too many players on base.

    They also suffered from some dumb luck. On Sunday, the Yankees managed to score runs and get on base with several bloop singles while Astros batters hammered balls directly at Yankee defenders. It resulted in a comedy of errors and a four-game sweep at the hands of New York.

    Want to know how bad it really was? Let’s look at the numbers.

    1978

    That was the year the last time the Astros opened a season with four straight losses. They finished that season 74-88, fifth in the NL West. The Astros are much better than that team than the ’78 squad despite the 303 strikeouts from J.R. Richard. But, it is the kind of inauspicious beginning no team wants.

    7-26

    The record for the Astros at home in their last 33 games including the postseason. That is an absolutely remarkable number when you consider how bad a team has to be to go 7-26 period. But, at home? That is the kind of home record from teams at the bottom of their division, not one considered among the best in baseball.

    October 7

    The last time the Astros won a game at Minute Maid Park in the ALDS against the Minnesota Twins. Just following up on that 7-26 thing, what is the deal in Houston’s home ballpark? Do they need to sacrifice a chicken to break some curse?

    .118/.342

    Yordan Alvarez’ slugging percentage versus his expected slugging. Even .342 is low, but it’s more than double the actual number showing just how unlucky he has been at the plate. Alvarez has crushed a few baseballs right at players. Kyle Tucker as well. That luck is bound to turn around as the season progresses. Both Alvarez and Tucker will be very good this year despite the rough start.

    8.53

    The combined ERA by the Astros three best relievers, Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu, who have allowed 6 runs in six-and-one-third innings. Make no mistake, these will be three very good relief pitchers as the season progresses. And, honestly, Hader has just given up one run and otherwise looked terrific. But when you are counting so much on the seventh, eighth and ninth inning pitchers to protect late inning leads (assuming you get them), this is not the start you want.

    34

    The number of players the Astros left on base during the four-game Yankees series. An incredible 15 of those were in scoring position. This is a trend that goes back to last season when the Astros were 20th in this category in baseball. But, you can withstand leaving players on base so long as your average with runners in scoring position is solid. The Astros were sixth in that category in 2023. They are currently 26th.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils

    Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils

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    HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez hit a moon shot that sent Space City into a frenzy, and the Houston Astros to their second World Series title.

    While the stain on Houston’s first championship might never completely fade, Alvarez’s majestic three-run homer helped fashion a fresh crown for the Astros — and the first for Dusty Baker as manager — in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 on Saturday night.

    “What happened before, it doesn’t ever pass over completely,” said Baker, the veteran manager hired by the Astros in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal. “But we have turned the page and hopefully we’ll continue this run.”

    Alvarez blasted a ball over the 40-foot batter’s eye in center field during the sixth inning immediately after Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was pulled with a 1-0 lead.

    As Alvarez’s 450-foot shot sailed, Astros starter Framber Valdez jumped and wildly screamed in the dugout while the crowd of 42,958 went crazy waving orange rally towels.

    “When I was rounding second base, I felt the whole stadium moving,” Alvarez said through a translator.

    The 73-year-old Baker finally got his first title in his 25th season as a manager. He’s spent the past three with the Astros after they hired him to help the team regain credibility after their trash can banging scheme cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs, and made Houston the most reviled team in baseball.

    “I wasn’t here in 2017, but it’s definitely a weight off of everybody’s shoulders. Ain’t nobody can say (anything) now,” said closer Ryan Pressly, who finished the Series with another scoreless inning.

    Baker, who won a World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had been to the Fall Classic twice before as a skipper, is the oldest championship manager in any of the four major North American sports. The win came 20 years after a near-miss, when he came within five outs of taking the title while guiding the San Francisco Giants.

    “What’s next? I said if I win one, I want to win two,” Baker said afterward.

    Houston’s coaching and training staffs circled around Baker after Nick Castellanos flied out to end it, jumping up and down, and chanting “Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!” in the dugout before they joined the players on the field.

    Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña was the World Series MVP after getting another key hit, a single to set up Alvarez’s homer.

    The 25-year-old star born in the Dominican Republic also won a Gold Glove award and AL Championship Series MVP — Peña is the first hitter to win those three awards in a career, and he did it all in his first season, per OptaSTATS.

    Jerseys worn by Peña and Baker during the Series were headed to the Hall of Fame.

    A year after watching the Atlanta Braves clinch the World Series title at Minute Maid Park, Justin Verlander and the Astros went 11-2 in the postseason and became the first team to seal the championship at home since the 2013 Boston Red Sox.

    Alvarez homered for the first time since going deep in the first two games this postseason. Christian Vázquez added an RBI single later in the inning to make it 4-1.

    Valdez earned his second win of this Series. He had been in the dugout only a few minutes after throwing his 93rd and final pitch while striking out nine over six innings.

    But the lefty had walked off the mound with the wild-card Phillies up 1-0 on Kyle Schwarber’s homer leading off the sixth.

    Schwarber, who hit his third homer in the past four games, rounded the bases waving his raised empty hand in the same motion as the fans with their towels.

    But by the time Schwarber batted in the eighth, the NL’s home run leader was reduced to bunting, trying for a hit to stir a dormant Phillies offense. His bunt went foul with two strikes, resulting in a strikeout.

    In the sixth, Houston got two runners on base against Wheeler for the first time in the game, when Martín Maldonado was hit by a pitch, Jose Altuve grounded into a forceout and Peña singled.

    Phillies manager Rob Thomson went to left-handed reliever José Alvarado to face the lefty slugger for the fourth time in the series — Alvarez had popped out twice and been hit by a pitch the first three times.

    “I thought Wheels still had really good stuff. It wasn’t about that. It was just I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado on Alvarez at that time,” Thomson said.

    And Alvarado had allowed only three homers to lefty hitters in his six big league seasons, until his 2-1 pitch, when Alvarez crushed the 99 mph sinker.

    “It’s kind of a dirty inning and I thought, I mean, going into the series it was always kind of Alvarado on Alvarez,” Thomson said. “It was the sixth inning and I felt like the normal back end of the bullpen guys could get through it.”

    Alvarez hadn’t homered since Game 2 of the AL Division Series against Seattle, when his two-run shot in the sixth inning put them up to stay. That came after his game-ending, three-run shot in Game 1 for an 8-7 win.

    Houston won an American League-best 106 games and reached its fourth World Series during a span in which it made it to the AL Championship Series six seasons in a row. The Astros made their only other World Series appearance in 2005, while still in the National League, and were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox.

    This was their third ALCS and second consecutive World Series since former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers revealed after the 2019 season, when he had gone from Houston for two years since being part of their 2017 championship, that the team had used a camera in center field to steal signs and signal hitters on which pitches to expect by banging on a garbage can.

    “That will probably never go away but I think this just proves how good this team is and how good it’s been for a long time,” Astros owner Jim Crane said on the field afterward.

    Philadelphia was 22-29 when Joe Girardi was fired in early June and replaced by bench coach Thomson, the 59-year-old baseball lifer getting his first chance a big league manager — he was on the Yankees big league staff for 10 seasons with Girardi, and was part of their last World Series and title in 2009.

    The Phillies finished the regular season 65-46 under Thomson, their 87 wins good for the sixth and final spot in the NL playoffs, on the way to their first World Series since 2009.

    UP NEXT

    Phillies: In less than five months, the Phillies will be back in Texas to begin their 2023 regular season, about 250 miles away for the opener of an interleague series March 30 against the Texas Rangers.

    Astros: Whether or not Baker and/or general manager James Click are back — neither is signed past this season — the World Series champs will play their 2023 season opener at home March 30 against the Chicago White Sox.

    ———

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Astros’ Peña 1st rookie hitter to win World Series MVP

    Astros’ Peña 1st rookie hitter to win World Series MVP

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    HOUSTON — Jeremy Peña’s key to success was keeping his head dry.

    Capping a freshman season like no other, he became the first rookie position player to win a World Series MVP award Saturday night after hitting .400 in the Houston Astros’ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

    “The hardest part was just blocking everything that’s not part of the game,” Peña said. “There’s a saying that you can’t sink a ship with water around. It sinks if water gets inside. So I just try to stay strong and keep the water outside my head.”

    Peña also won a Gold Glove and was the AL Championship Series MVP. The 25-year-old shortstop became the first hitter to win those three prizes in a career, according to OptaSTATS — and he did it all in his rookie season.

    “It has a lot to do with my family, my upbringing,” he said.

    Peña praised Dusty Baker, the Astros’ 73-year-old manager. When Baker made his major league managerial debut for San Francisco on April 6, 1993, the leadoff hitter for the other team was Peña’s father, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Gerónimo Peña.

    “Dusty Baker’s a legend in the sport,” Jeremy Peña said. “Not just because he’s been around. He’s had success at this game. He brings the best out of his players. He gives you the confidence to just go out and play hard and let the game take care of itself.”

    Peña singled to chase Phillies starter Zack Wheeler in Game 6, giving the Astros two baserunners for the first time. Yordan Alvarez followed with a go-ahead, three-run homer that sent Houston to a 4-1 victory.

    Peña finished the postseason with a .345 batting average, four homers, eight RBIs and a 1.005 OPS. He also became the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove, as well as the first to homer in the World Series.

    Just 24 when he was handed the starting job at the beginning of the season after Carlos Correa left as a free agent, Peña became the third rookie at any position to earn World Series MVP, joining a pair of right-handed pitchers: the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Larry Sherry in 1959 and Miami’s Liván Hernández in 1997.

    Peña’s 18th-inning homer completed a Division Series sweep at Seattle and he hit a go-ahead drive off Noah Syndergaard in Game 5 of the World Series. His Game 2 jersey is headed to the Hall of Fame.

    “You have to make tough decisions in this job, and Jeremy’s making it look like it was an easy decision, and it wasn’t,” Houston general manager James Click said. “Carlos is a great player, and he’s been a huge part of this franchise. But to do what Jeremy did, to step in and elevate his game in the playoffs, it just speaks to his hard work, his character and the talent that he has. There’s not that many special guys on the planet that can do what he just did.”

    Peña became the ninth player to win MVP of a League Championship Series and the World Series in the same season. He batted .353 with two homers and four RBIs against the Yankees in the ALCS.

    The only other player to win an LCS MVP award, World Series MVP and a Gold Glove during their career was pitcher Orel Hershiser, who took all three prizes with the Dodgers in 1988.

    Peña hit .291 with 22 homers and 63 RBIs during the regular season and likely will finish high in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Seattle outfielder Julio Rodríguez is the favorite.

    Others to win LCS and World Series MVP in one year were Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell (1979), St. Louis’ Darrell Porter (1982), Hershiser (1988), Hernández (2003), Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels (2008), the Cardinals’ David Freese (2011), San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner (2014) and the Dodgers’ Corey Seager (2020).

    Only four other rookies were LCS MVPs: Baltimore right-hander Mike Boddicker in 1983, Hernández in 1997, St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha in 2013 and Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena in 2020.

    Peña thought back to last year’s Game 6 loss to Atlanta at Minute Maid Park, where he joined the Astros but was inactive.

    “These guys were left with a bitter taste in their mouth last year,” he said. “Me being in the dugout last year, I didn’t want to experience that again.”

    ———

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Harper, Phillies tie World Series mark with 5 HR, top Astros

    Harper, Phillies tie World Series mark with 5 HR, top Astros

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    PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper bashed a home run on the first World Series pitch he saw in Philadelphia, and then figured out how the Phillies could hit a few more.

    The $330 million star offered quiet advice to Alec Bohm — and then it got really loud in Philadelphia.

    As for those whispers in May that the Phillies were finished? Forget about ’em. The secret has long been out: these Phillies are for real.

    Now, they’re two wins away from their first World Series championship since 2008.

    Harper hammered his sixth postseason home run, whispered an assist to Bohm before his solo shot and the Phillies tied a World Series record with five homers to rout the Houston Astros 7-0 Tuesday night and take a 2-1 Series lead.

    Brandon Marsh also homered, and Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins hit back-to-back shots in the fifth inning to chase Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. Philadelphia used the long ball to end the long wait for its first World Series home win since Game 5 of the 2009 World Series.

    Those Phillies couldn’t finish the job.

    Ranger Suárez tossed three-hit ball over five shutout innings and inched this year’s team closer to getting it done.

    Harper, Bohm, Marsh and the rest of the Phillies on the last team to qualify for the playoffs are two wins away from ending the season as the last team standing. With a sparkling 6-0 record at Citizens Bank Park this postseason, the Phillies just may not return to Texas.

    “It’s our fan base. I mean, plain and simple.” Harper said. “They keep us going, keep us fired up.”

    Another red, raucous, resolute crowd of 45,712 let the Astros have it from the first pitch with chants of “Cheater! Cheater!” for Jose Altuve and “Check the Bat! Check the Bat!” for Martin Maldonado.

    The fans — already amped from the jump after another sliding catch by right fielder Nick Castellanos in the first — didn’t wait long to go wild for the home run barrage.

    With leadoff hitter Schwarber on first base, Harper repeated his flair for playoff power when he ripped a two-run shot off McCullers into the right field seats for the fast lead. That made Harper 2 for 2 on home run swings in Philly — he sent the Phillies to the World Series with a two-run drive in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series to beat San Diego.

    Harper crossed the plate and again exclaimed “This is my house!” before he ripped off his helmet, exposed his Phillie Phanatic headband and was mobbed by teammates in the dugout.

    Harper’s homers shake the stadium to the point they should be measured on the Richter scale rather than in feet — and they seem as automatic these days as a Phillie Phanatic spin on his ATV. Harper has hit four postseason homers that gave the Phillies the lead and showed that, yes, Bryce Bombs do go off in November, the first time more World Series games will be played in this month than October.

    Oh, and Harper might have a second career as a homer whisperer.

    Harper beckoned Bohm from the on-deck circle and back to the dugout for a quick word of advice.

    Maybe Harper saw McCullers tipping his pitches?

    “I think that’s just general conversation,” Harper said. “Trying to get as much information as we can from each other. We just tried to have the best at-bats we could.”

    Whatever the quiet counseling was, it worked, and Bohm lined his first postseason homer leading off the second inning and the 1,000th in World Series history into the left field seats for 3-0 lead.

    So c’mon, Alec, fess up, what did Bryce tell you?

    “That’s between us,” Bohm said on TV with a shrug and a big smile.

    Marsh took the baton on the long-ball relay and knocked one into the right field seats that was dropped by a young kid from Delaware. The home run stood after a brief review — as it seems nothing can interfere with Philadelphia’s playoff push — and it was 4-0.

    With that, McCullers had allowed four homers to his first nine batters. The right-hander who got his left triceps inked with nods to Houston got absolutely tattooed by the Phillies.

    Schwarber, the NL home run champion, again dumped a two-run shot into a thicket of English ivy, Arborvitae and Holly beyond center field, and Hoskins connected on solo shot for a 7-0 lead that ended McCullers’ night.

    McCullers became the first pitcher to give up five home runs in a World Series game.

    “I don’t really get hit around like that, so I was a little bit in disbelief,” McCullers said.

    Suárez, the scheduled Game 4 starter before Game 3 was postponed a day by rain, delivered with the performance of his career and shut down the big bats in the AL champs’ lineup.

    He needed only two pitches to get the first two outs of the game and struck out Yordan Alvarez to end the first. The few jams he got into, Suárez worked his way out, notably in the second when he whiffed Chas McCormick and left two runners stranded. He retired Altuve to end the fifth on a soft foul pop with two runners on base.

    Four relievers each tossed a scoreless inning to finish the five-hitter.

    THE CHAMPS ARE HERE

    Philly sports champions Mike Schmidt, Julius Erving, Brandon Graham and Bernie Parent threw first pitches to 2008 World Series champions Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. Country music star Tim McGraw, son of the late Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, received a huge ovation and wore his dad’s No. 45 McGraw jersey. McGraw closed the 1980 World Series with a strikeout.

    UP NEXT

    The Phillies send RHP Aaron Nola (2-1, 4.57 ERA in the postseason) to the mound against Houston RHP Christian Javier (1-0, 1.35 ERA) in Game 4. Nola was done after 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the World Series, though he retired the final six batters he faced and left in a tie game after the Phillies rallied from an early 5-0 deficit — and won 6-5.

    ———

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Cortes hurt, leaves after tying 3-run HR in ALCS Game 4

    Cortes hurt, leaves after tying 3-run HR in ALCS Game 4

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    NEW YORK — Nestor Cortes’ fastball dropped 3 mph from the end of the second inning to the third in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series, and New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone walked to the mound with head athletic trainer Tim Lentych.

    “He said he was fine,” Boone recalled. “I’m not going to just pull him out of the game because he isn’t perfect.”

    Eight pitches later, Cortes allowed a tying three-run homer to Jeremy Peña and the Astros went on to a 6-5 victory Sunday night that completed a four-game AL Championship Series sweep.

    “It’s kind of embarrassing that that happened, obviously, with the circumstances we were in,” Cortes said.

    Cortes had reaggravated his strained left groin during workouts in the five days ahead of the Division Series opener against Cleveland on Oct. 11 but made a pair of starts against the Guardians and won Game 5.

    He allowed a single and a walk in the first two innings against the Astros, then walked Martín Maldonado leading off the third and had a 2-1 count on Jose Altuve when Boone made the mound visit after his eighth pitch of the inning.

    “He asked me how I felt and I told him, `I feel well enough to compete. I feel great,’” Cortes recalled. “He knows I’m a competitor. He knows that it’s going to be hard to take me off the mound. And I think I showed all year that I’ve gained respect from him to leave me out there and grind through it.”

    Cortes threw 17 fastballs in the first two innings against Houston ranging from 89.4 to 92.4 mph. His seven in the second inning were from 87.7 mph to 89.1 mph.

    His control was off. Cortes went to three-ball counts on seven of 11 batters and he threw just 28 of 55 pitches for strikes.

    “It gradually got worse. It started locking up on me there in the third,” Cortes said.

    Altuve’s walk marked the first time the 27-year-old All-Star left-hander walked consecutive batters this year. He fell behind 3-1 when Pena homered on a cutter, driving it into the left-field seats.

    “I don’t think that homer was because I was hurt,” Cortes said. “It was just, he put a good swing to it. I thought I had located the pitch pretty well.”

    Cortes did not pitch between Aug. 21 and Sept. 8 because of a strained left groin, then returned to make five regular-season starts and two in the Division Series, when he allowed three runs in 10 innings.

    “It’s been lingering for a while,” he said.

    Cortes thought he could pitch through it and Boone believed him.

    “We’ve been dealing with this on different levels for a couple months,” Boone said. “He said he was fine and then obviously wasn’t quite fine enough.”

    ———

    More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • MLB Playoffs: Mariners host Astros, Yankees visit Guardians

    MLB Playoffs: Mariners host Astros, Yankees visit Guardians

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    Playoff baseball returns to the Pacific Northwest on Saturday.

    The Seattle Mariners are hoping it’s more than a one-day cameo.

    Julio Rodríguez and company host Yordan Alvarez and the Houston Astros for Game 3 of their AL Division Series. The Mariners are hoping to extend their October stay after dropping the first two games of the best-of-five series in Houston.

    Matt Olson and Atlanta look to stay alive against Bryce Harper and Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles Dodgers take on Manny Machado and San Diego in Game 4 of their NLDS on Saturday night. The New York Yankees face the Cleveland Guardians in the other ALDS matchup.

    It’s the first playoff game in Seattle since the Mariners were eliminated by the New York Yankees in the 2001 AL Championship Series.

    “The factor that I don’t think is getting talked about enough and I think it’s going to show up tomorrow on the first inning is when there’s 45,000 Mariner fans in the stands pumped and ready to go, and all behind us. Because we certainly need it,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “I talked about it when we clinched, ended the drought, how valuable our fan base has been to this team. This team really, somehow, we get wired, we get going when it’s loud here.”

    Seattle snapped the longest playoff drought in the four major North American sports when it clinched one of the AL wild cards on Sept. 30 thanks to Cal Raleigh’s home run.

    Even the starting pitcher for Houston — trying to end Seattle’s season on Saturday — has appreciation for seeing the Mariners back in the postseason.

    “Moments like these where the fans get to come back out and watch postseason baseball for an organization that hasn’t been there in a while I think is really cool,” Houston right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. said.

    Here’s what else to know about the MLB playoffs Saturday:

    SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE (All times ET)

    NLDS Game 4: Atlanta at Philadelphia, 2:07 p.m., FS1

    ALDS Game 3: Houston at Seattle, 4:07 p.m., TBS

    ALDS Game 3: New York Yankees at Cleveland, 7:37 p.m., TBS

    NLDS Game 4: Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego, 9:37 p.m., FS1

    ALL RISE?

    Maybe a change of scenery will help Aaron Judge as he looks to find his timing at the plate. Judge and the Yankees visit the Guardians for Game 3 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.

    Judge went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts in Friday’s 4-2 loss in Game 2. He is 0 for 8 with seven strikeouts in the deadlocked best-of-five series.

    “Just a little late,” Judge said. “When you’re a little late, you’re missing pitches that you’re usually doing some damage on. You’re swinging at stuff that you usually don’t. So it’s truly all about timing.”

    The 30-year-old Judge hit .311 with 62 homers and 131 RBIs this season, leading New York to the AL East title and setting himself up for a big payday. The 6-foot-7 outfielder is eligible for free agency after breaking Roger Maris’ AL home run record.

    ON THE EDGE

    Atlanta is on the brink of elimination heading into Game 4 at Philadelphia. The Braves won the World Series last year, and then rallied past the Mets for their fifth consecutive NL East title this season.

    Charlie Morton starts for Atlanta, and Noah Syndergaard takes the mound for Philly. Morton, who turns 39 on Nov. 12, is 7-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 17 career postseason appearances. Syndergaard is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in six postseason games, including a scoreless eighth inning in Game 2 at Atlanta.

    Morton was in the mix for Friday’s Game 3, but the Braves went with Spencer Strider instead. The rookie right-hander was tagged for five runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 9-1 loss.

    “It’s the postseason. You’ve just got to be ready to throw when they call on you,” Morton said.

    ___

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Alvarez homers again, Astros top Mariners 4-2, lead ALDS 2-0

    Alvarez homers again, Astros top Mariners 4-2, lead ALDS 2-0

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    HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez and his mighty bat did it yet again, launching a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning off Seattle ace Luis Castillo that lifted the Houston Astros over the Mariners 4-2 on Thursday for a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series.

    Alvarez was the Game 1 hero with his gut-punch, three-run shot off reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray with two outs in the ninth inning that gave the Astros an 8-7 win in a game where they’d trailed by four.

    Castillo, acquired from the Reds near the trade deadline and coming off 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball against Toronto in the wild-card round, gave up an early home run to Kyle Tucker but little else as he took a 2-1 lead into the sixth.

    But with two outs, Jeremy Peña singled on a blooper that fell in between second baseman Adam Frazier and center fielder Julio Rodríguez. Castillo bent down and slapped his legs in disappointment as he watched the ball drop in shallow center.

    That brought up Alvarez, who hit a 98 mph pitch tailing away to the opposite field, into the short porch in left to put the Astros on top 3-2.

    Alvarez, who had 37 homers in the regular season, trotted around the bases as cameras panned to his Cuban parents, who are watching their first postseason series after arriving in Houston in August. The lefty pointed to them as he reached the plate before reenacting the powerful swing that has the Astros one win away from their sixth straight AL Championship Series.

    There were two outs and a runner on first in the eighth when Seattle had surely seen enough of Alvarez leaving the yard. The Mariners intentionally walked him and Alex Bregman made them pay, adding some insurance when he singled to make it 4-2.

    Houston starter Framber Valdez had a solid start, allowing four hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He had a different look than he did in his last postseason appearance after he and fellow pitcher Luis Garcia both got hair extensions this season.

    Hector Neris got the win after getting the last out of the sixth inning to escape a bases-loaded jam. Bryan Abreu got the first two outs of the seventh before Rafael Montero came in and threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

    Ryan Pressly walked the leadoff batter in the ninth before J.P. Crawford lined into a double play. Rodríguez doubled after that, but Pressly struck out Ty France for the save. The Astros won despite issuing seven walks overall.

    The Mariners will head back to Seattle for Game 3 Saturday in a huge hole in the best-of-five series as they host their first playoff game in 21 years.

    Alvarez has carried the Astros early in this division series, shouldering such a load that Houston catcher Martín Maldonado asked Alvarez after Game 1 if his back was sore because “you carry us as a team.” The 25-year-old bounced back this postseason after a tough time in last year’s World Series where he batted just .100 with no homers and six strikeouts.

    The slugger who’s been criticized for poor defense in the past has been making big plays in left field, too.

    Alvarez grabbed a sharp liner hit by Eugenio Suarez to end the seventh. In Game 1, he fielded a single by Suarez in the fourth and threw a perfect strike to Maldonado, who tagged out France at the plate.

    Castillo yielded five hits and three runs with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

    There was one out in the second inning when Tucker hit a slider from Castillo into the seats in right field to put Houston up 1-0.

    Crawford doubled with two outs in the third. But second baseman Jose Altuve made a leaping throw after fielding a sharp grounder hit by Rodríguez that just beat him to first base to end the inning.

    Suarez walked with one out in the fourth and Mitch Haniger doubled. Carlos Santana then hit a one-hopper that Valdez fielded cleanly toward the third base side, but his throw home was offline for an error that allowed Suarez to tie it at 1-all.

    Santana was out on the play after getting caught in a rundown. Haniger scored when Dylan Moore singled to put the Mariners up 2-1.

    Valdez walked Haniger on a full count with two outs in the sixth, Santana doubled and Moore drew a walk to load the bases and chase Valdez. Neris took over and retired Cal Raleigh on a groundout to escape the jam.

    UP NEXT

    Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr., who started just eight games this season after missing the first four months of the year with a forearm strain, will oppose rookie George Kirby in Game 3 in Seattle Saturday. Kirby pitched in relief in Game 2 of the wild-card round and became the first rookie in MLB history to record a postseason season in his first career relief appearance.

    ———

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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