Yordan Alvarez normally lets his bat do the talking.
But after the Houston Astros were swept in a three-game home series over the weekend by National League East champion Atlanta, Alvarez felt compelled to speak up at a players’ meeting.
“Basically for us, it was three slaps in the face they gave us right in front of our fans, especially,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “Just use (Monday’s off day) to take it as a reset day and rest, and then the only thing left is to go out there and win the six games we have left.”
The Astros (77-79), who have lost 10 of their past 14 games, enter a two-game series Tuesday at Seattle one game behind Texas in the American League West race. They’ll complete the regular season with four games against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif.
Alvarez has held up his end of the bargain. The MVP front-runner leads the AL with a .313 batting average and ranks second in home runs (40) and RBIs (99) as he chases a Triple Crown.
Teammate Taylor Trammell said Alvarez’s words carried weight.
“He doesn’t talk much and when he speaks, there’s a presence,” Trammell said. “This was not a ‘hoorah’ or anything like that. It’s just like, ‘Hey guys, Easy. Just be easy with it,’ and hearing it from him, it means something. You see the way he’s played all year and you can’t tell me there hasn’t been any nicks or bangs for him. And he’s going out there every single day and being the best hitter in the game right now. That’s what he’s doing. And so when he says something and he talks, you listen.”
The Astros, who missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker last season to end an eight-year stretch of postseason appearances, hold the tiebreaker over Texas after winning the season series. The Rangers have three home games against the New York Mets and three games at Minnesota remaining.
The defending AL West champion Mariners (73-83) are five games behind Texas and dropped the season series to the Rangers, leaving them essentially one game from elimination.
They staved that off Sunday as rookie Kade Anderson pitched seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball, with no walks and seven strikeouts, in a 2-1 victory at Colorado.
“You just show up and … keep going,” Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh said. “That’s really all you can do. It’s frustrating, but we made our bed, and we’ve got to lay in it. And it’s our job to show up, play hard and put our best foot forward. It’s baseball, so you never know. Just keep fighting, keep battling, try to win one pitch at a time, and you know the rest is what it is.”
Tuesday’s series opener is set to feature a pair of right-handers, the Astros’ Cristian Javier (2-6, 5.31 ERA) and the Mariners’ Logan Gilbert (12-10, 3.69).
Javier suffered a 5-2 loss to visiting Kansas City last Wednesday, despite allowing just two runs over 5 1/3 innings. He’s 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA in nine career appearances against Seattle, including six starts.
Gilbert is coming off a 2-1 loss last Tuesday to the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., despite a quality start of six innings with two runs allowed. He’s 7-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 15 career starts against the Astros. Gilbert was the winning pitcher in a 6-1 victory April 12 in Seattle as he allowed one run on four hits over seven innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
