{"id":906591,"date":"2026-09-23T12:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906591\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T12:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:40:12","slug":"triple-crown-still-within-reach-for-astros-slugger-yordan-alvarez-after-big-game-in-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906591\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple Crown still within reach for Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez after big game in Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE (AP) \u2014 Houston Astros<\/a> slugger Yordan Alvarez<\/a> gained some ground Tuesday night in his chase for a Triple Crown.<\/p>\n

He still has plenty of work to do this week. <\/p>\n

The AL MVP front-runner went 2 for 4 with his 41st home run and three RBIs in the Astros\u2019 7-0 win over the Seattle Mariners<\/a>. Alvarez hit an RBI single in the first inning, was intentionally walked in the second and then belted a 386-foot homer in the eighth with a 109.5 mph exit velocity. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, I keep wondering why guys are pitching to him,\u201d Houston first baseman Christian Walker<\/a> said. \u201cHe just seems to come through in every moment. He\u2019s dangerous at the plate right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alvarez, who is quiet and shows little emotion, orchestrated a team meeting after the Astros (78-79) were swept by Atlanta on Sunday, squandering their lead in the AL West. His performance on Tuesday was much-needed to put Houston in a tie with the Texas Rangers<\/a> atop the division with five games left this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been backing it up all year,\u201d Astros manager Joe Espada said. <\/p>\n

Alvarez\u2019s two-run shot to right field tied him with Junior Caminero<\/a> of the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> for the American League lead with 41 homers. Alvarez is first in batting average at .314 \u2014 five points ahead of Tampa Bay\u2019s Chandler Simpson<\/a> \u2014 and he has 102 RBIs, six behind Baltimore Orioles<\/a> slugger Pete Alonso<\/a> for most in the AL.<\/p>\n

Alonso drove in three runs with two homers Monday against Toronto, but the teams were rained out Tuesday in Baltimore because of bad weather. They are scheduled to play a split doubleheader Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Alvarez has six homers since Aug. 1, and the 29-year-old designated hitter has eight RBIs over 17 games in September. He\u2019ll need more to become baseball\u2019s first Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. <\/p>\n

Alvarez leads the AL in slugging percentage (.601), OPS (1.032), total bases (329) and walks (106). Logan Gilbert<\/a> intentionally walked Alvarez in the second inning Tuesday, which was the 33rd time for Alvarez this season, already a franchise record. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a historic season for the four-time All-Star after he was limited to 48 games in 2025 because of a broken hand and an ankle injury. <\/p>\n

If he wins the AL MVP award, the Cuban slugger will join Shohei Ohtani<\/a> of the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> as the only players to win an MVP award while primarily serving as a designated hitter. Othani was close to winning a Triple Crown in 2024 after leading the NL in homers (50) and RBIs (130), but his .310 average fell just short to Luis Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s .314. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full MLB coverage here <\/p>\n

Luke Olson, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE (AP) \u2014 Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez gained some ground Tuesday night in his chase for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-906591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}