Alvarez homers again as Astros overpower Brewers
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 10-8 win
After winning the weekend series against the Orioles and being rewarded with a day off on Monday, the Astros picked up a quick two-game series with NL Central-leading Brewers on Tuesday night. Here's how the first of the two games went:
Final Score: Astros 10, Brewers 8.
Record: 46-22, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Brad Peacock (6-3, 3.42 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Freddy Peralta (3-3, 5.81 ERA).
1) Offenses trade blows
The Brewers and Astros went back and forth with offensive bursts early, starting with the Brewers getting a run off of Brad Peacock in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Tyler White doubled them up in the bottom of the second with a two-run opposite-field home run, his second of the year, to give Houston a 2-1 lead, but Christian Yelich responded for the Brewers in the next inning with a solo home run of his own, tying the game 2-2.
Yuli Gurriel broke the tie in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of a leadoff double by Michael Brantley by hitting a two-run homer to put the Astros back in front 4-2. Milwaukee trimmed the lead to one run in the top of the fifth with a few more hits to make it 4-3, but the Astros would roar right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI-triple from Micheal Brantley and RBI-single from Gurriel to double up the Brewers again at 6-3.
They weren't done in that inning, though, because next up was their newest teammate who provided another highlight.
2) Alvarez does it again
After striking out in his first two plate appearances in the game, Yordan Alvarez came to the plate with Gurriel on first in the bottom of the fifth. The momentum was in his favor, as both Gurriel and Brantley had plated runners in front of him.
He got hold of a 2-2 pitch low in the zone, golfing it with enough of his extraordinary power to get it over the right field wall to make it back-to-back games with a home run, the first Houston player in franchise history to get home runs in their first two games. That gave the Astros a commanding five-run lead at 8-3. Alvarez finished the night 1-for-3 with a walk and the homerun, keeping his average at .333 through two games.
3) Peacock and bullpen hold the lead
Brad Peacock didn't have a perfect night by any means, allowing a run right off the bat then two more through the first five innings, but given the big lead in the bottom of the fifth, he was able to get deep enough into the game to avoid taxing the bullpen for too many innings. Peacock's final line: 6.1 IP, 7H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2HR.
Peacock's night ended one out into the seventh, and Will Harris took over to complete that inning with no damage allowed and one strikeout. Robinson Chirinos padded the lead further in the bottom of the seventh, hitting a two-run home run to extend the lead to 10-4 on Houston's fourth homer of the night.
Hector Rondon looked to get a quick inning with the large lead in the top of the eighth, but would instead load the bases then walk in a run before getting the final out, resulting in a call to bring in Ryan Pressly to clean up the mess. Pressly would get the last out of the eighth, then Chris Devenski would take over in the ninth.
Devenski would struggle after getting two outs, allowing a single then hitting a batter to set up a three-run home run to get the Brewers within two runs at 10-8, but Devenski would get the last out to close out the win.
Up Next: Houston and Milwaukee will wrap up this two-game series tomorrow night with the game starting at 7:10 PM. We'll get to see a good pitching matchup as Justin Verlander (9-2, 2.31 ERA) will look to lift the Astros over Brandon Woodruff (8-1, 3.87 ERA) and the Brewers.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
