Yordan Alvarez who hit a historic walk-off three-run homer to beat the Mariners in Game one of the American League Division series also helped win Game 2.
He socked an opposite-field two-run homer off Luis Castillo in the sixth inning to put the Astros ahead and send them to a 4-2 Grand win against Seattle in Game 2. That prompted Mariners manager Scott Servais to walk him with a runner on first base later in the game, but Alvarez’s damage was done.
These milestones made Alvarez the first player in postseason history with multiple career go-ahead homers in the sixth inning or later when his team was trailing.
The Astro has also bagged a 2-0 lead on five straight games of the ALD. In the history of best-of-five postseason series, teams that take a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 77 of 87 times (89%). (Of the 10 teams to come back, the most recent was the 2017 Yankees against Cleveland).
In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams winning both Games 1 and 2 in their home ballparks have advanced 30 of 33 times (91%), with 19 finishing off the sweep in Game 3.
Speaking about the intentional walk in the eighth inning, Astro Manager, Dusty Baker said:
“That was some Barry Bonds-type stuff there. I mean, that’s the ultimate respect. … I’ve seen that a bunch of times, but not in a long time since Barry Bonds.”
Alvarez put the Astros ahead, 3-2, in the sixth inning when he sent a 98.3 mph sinker from Castillo into the Crawford Boxes in left field for a two-run homer.
Castillo had allowed only three baserunners prior to that — a solo homer by Kyle Tucker in the second, a double by Jeremy Peña in the fourth and a bloop single to Peña ahead of Alvarez’s homer.
When Peña drew a two-out walk in the eighth against reliever Andrés Muñoz, Servais walked Alvarez even though first base wasn’t open. The move backfired, with Bregman shooting an RBI single to right field for a 4-2 Astros lead.
Castillo said he was surprised Yordan was able to put the barrel on a ball that was about four inches off the plate.
