MARINERS TAKE THE FINALE

Astros' Yordan Alvarez hits for cycle despite loss to Mariners

Astros' Yordan Alvarez hits for cycle despite loss to Mariners
Mariners defeat Astros, 6-4. Composite image by Brandon Strange.

Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez hit for the cycle against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, becoming the 10th player in Houston history to accomplish the feat.

 

Alvarez singled in the first inning, hit his 20th homer of the season off Mariners starter Bryan Woo in the fourth, added a run-scoring triple to center field in the sixth off Taylor Saucedo and completed the cycle with a double down the right field line in the eighth against Gregory Santos.

Alvarez finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the Astros' 6-4 loss to Seattle.

 

Asked if he'd ever hit for a cycle in his baseball life, Alvarez said, “Not even in Playstation.”

“I’m very excited,” Alvarez said. “I felt a little bit of pressure there, but I knew I needed a double and when I hit the ball I said, ‘There it is.”

The 27-year-old Alvarez had the second cycle in the history of T-Mobile Park, after Miguel Tejada's on September 29, 2001.

The triple, the sixth of Alvarez's career, came on a fly ball to deep center field. Julio Rodríguez jumped for the ball against the wall, but dropped the catch and sprained his right ankle on the play. The ball rolled toward the infield before left fielder Dylan Moore grabbed it as Alvarez hustled into third.

“It was a confusing play,” Alvarez said. "When I hit the ball, I thought it was going to carry a little bit more, and then I saw him jump at the wall and make the catch, and then I saw him hit the wall and the ball drops and he drops. I just knew I needed to continue running there.”

Before Sunday, the most recent cycle by a member of the Astros came on August 28, 2023, by Jose Altuve against Boston.

Luke Raley hit a three-run homer, Bryan Woo pitched 5 2/3 solid innings and the Seattle Mariners overcame an injury to Julio Rodríguez to beat the Houston Astros 6-4 on Sunday.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak and put the Mariners into a tie with Houston for the AL West Division lead.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHPs Justin Verlander (neck discomfort) and Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) both felt good after throwing bullpens on Saturday, and Espada said the plan is for both to throw again sometime in the next couple of days.

ROSTER MOVE

The Mariners traded RHP Mike Baumann to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday for cash considerations.

UP NEXT

Astros: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (4-7, 5.63 ERA) will pitch Monday in Houston’s series opener at Oakland.

Mariners: RHP Bryce Miller (7-7, 3.63 ERA) will start Monday against Angels lefty Tyler Anderson. Miller has a 4.46 ERA in his past seven starts, with 10 walks and 27 strikeouts.

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The Astros beat the Dodgers, 5-1. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images.

Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz and Jose Altuve each homered, Ryan Gusto threw six strong innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Sunday to complete their first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since May 9-11, 2008.

The Astros scored the go-ahead run in the sixth when No. 9 batter Zack Short capped an eight-pitch at-bat by drawing a two-out bases-loaded walk off reliever Will Klein (1-1) for a 2-1 lead.

 

Walker and Diaz opened the eighth with homers off Dodgers closer Tanner Scott for a 4-1 lead.

 

And Altuve added a solo shot in the ninth off Anthony Banda, as the Astros improved to a major league-best 24-8 since June 1.

 

Gusto (6-3) wasn’t dominant, allowing one run and four hits and striking out one, but he held the top four Dodgers batters — Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages — to two singles in 12 at-bats.

Bennett Sousa, Bryan King and Bryan Abreu each threw scoreless innings of relief for Houston.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second, an inning that began with Michael Conforto’s walk and Hyeseong Kim’s single. Conforto took third on Miguel Rojas’ double play grounder and scored on Dalton Rushing’s RBI double.

Houston tied the score 1-1 in the third when Short singled, took third on Isaac Paredes’ double and scored on Altuve’s sacrifice fly, a ball that Dodgers right fielder Esteury Ruiz caught while leaping into the screen in foul territory.

Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan, recalled from Triple-A to make his second big-league start in his return from Tommy John surgery, gave up one run and five hits in five innings, striking out four and walking one.

Key moment

The Dodgers threatened off reliever King in the eighth when Rushing singled and took second on Betts’ two-out single, but Astros center fielder Taylor Trammell, who entered for defensive purposes in the sixth, raced in to make a sliding catch of Freeman’s 104-mph liner to preserve a 4-1 lead.

Key stat

Walker, who entered with a major league-best 1.203 career OPS in Dodger Stadium, is batting .349 (53 for 152) with 21 homers and 38 RBIs in 45 games in Chavez Ravine.

Up next

Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-6, 2.51 ERA) will face Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta (9-4, 2.91 ERA) Monday in Milwaukee.

Astros left-hander Colton Gordon (3-1, 4.37 ERA) will face Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (4-9, 4.20 ERA) Monday in Houston.

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