Major League Baseball

Yordan Álvarez's three hits spark three wins, but Astros still much deeper

Published Apr. 24, 2023 12:41 a.m. ET

On Sunday afternoon, the defending World Series champion Astros were four outs away from being yanked back to .500.

Despite a supremely located slider on the outer-half from Braves reliever A.J. Minter, Álvarez calmly deposited a base hit into right field to tie the game at 2.

Rookie Corey Julks delivered the go-ahead pinch-hit knock up the middle to put Houston in front and help secure the sweep over Atlanta.

Two days earlier, Álvarez stepped in against Minter in a tie game in the ninth inning. It was the first time he’d faced Minter since the 2021 World Series when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts against the dynamite left-hander. Payback was inevitable, and payback was delivered — 405 feet to right field for a go-ahead two-run homer.

On Saturday, Álvarez paid a visit to the upper level in right field with another go-ahead moonshot in the sixth inning.

Astros' Yordan Álvarez and Kyle Tucker both go deep in the sixth

Three games, three fantastically clutch swings, three wins. They were Álvarez’s only three hits of the series, but they each mattered the most. A ho-hum weekend for arguably the best hitter on the planet. But while Álvarez was the obvious headliner, there were several other contributions that represent an even stronger sign of Houston starting to find its groove, especially on the pitching side. Most notably, the bullpen — featuring multiple outings from Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu — casually combined to throw nine hitless innings over the course of the series. They even got a 28th out for good measure!

That’s more like the Houston team we saw cruise to a title last October, a magnificent parade of shutdown relievers Dusty Baker can rely on, even against some of the best hitters in the league. Combined with exquisite starting pitching from the likes of Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier, Houston’s deep selection of bullpen weapons ensures the game will almost always stay close, which enables the offense to have the chance to come up with clutch hits late.

Beyond Álvarez’s three timely hits, the Astros lineup combined for another 28 hits on the weekend. Mauricio Dubón has been a revelation atop the order in José Altuve’s absence, Alex Bregman is slowly heating up, and Julks — who is quietly hitting .327/.333/.491 through his first 57 big-league plate appearances — notched five hits over the weekend, including his game-winner on Sunday. As long as Altuve is out — and as long as free-agent acquisition José Abreu’s slow start continues — the Astros will need to find some offensive impact from places they didn’t fully expect. Julks and Dubon have been just that so far and could prove to be all the more valuable once the rest of the lineup is fully operational and firing on all cylinders.

Amid their in-state rival Rangers getting off to a roaring start atop the AL West — including a recent rare series win at Minute Maid Park — the Astros arrived in Atlanta 9-10. The Braves had won eight of their previous nine games and were living up to the preseason hype as one of the premier contenders in the National League. This was not exactly a team anyone hoping to start a hot streak would want to face.

And yet, juggernauts like the Astros see those challenges as opportunities to gain even more significant momentum than they ever could against a lesser opponent. Suddenly, a swift sweep of the mighty Braves has Houston feeling wonderful as it heads to Tampa Bay, where the Rays have yet to be defeated on their home turf. If this weekend in Atlanta wasn’t convincing enough, these three games against the scorching-hot Rays represent an excellent chance for the Astros to remind everyone who has run the American League for the past half-decade.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He has covered baseball for his entire adult life, most notably for MLB.com, DAZN and The Ringer. He's a Mariners fan living in the Eastern Time Zone, which means he loves a good 10 p.m. first pitch. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.

Top stories from FOX Sports: