Yordan Alvarez got the typical Philadelphia treatment at Tuesday’s All-Star Game, then the Houston Astros’ designated hitter did what he has made look routine all year: Rip a baseball into open space.
After getting booed during pregame introductions — he was far from alone in that regard — Alvarez, hitting second in the American League lineup, smashed a single up the middle off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez in the top of the first.
Sánchez fed Alvarez three straight sliders, and the third one caught way too much of the heart of the plate. Alvarez ripped it up the middle for a single that left his bat with a 90.9 mph exit velocity.
The at-bat signaled trouble for Sánchez, who opened the game by striking out Mike Trout. However, after Alvarez’s basehit, Sánchez walked two, then gave up RBI singles to a pair of Yankees, Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice, to put the National League in an immediate 3-0 hole.
Alvarez, who was in the designated hitter role, got an at-bat in the second inning, but flied out against the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Eduardo Rodriguez. Alvarez was removed for a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning before he could get to the plate a third time.
Ever since the sign-stealing scandal, it’s not uncommon for Astros players to get booed at All-Star Games, and it’s never rare for Philadelphia fans to boo anyone, but they’re even more familiar with Alvarez than most. Alvarez hit one of the biggest home runs in franchise history, bashing a ball over the batter’s eye to give the Astros the lead late in Game 6 of the World Series, helping them win the second title in franchise history.
So, when Alvarez jogged onto the field during lineup introductions, he got some of the biggest boos of the night, which Alvarez reacted to by nodding his head and giving a salute.
“Whole interaction was in jest as all the fans around you were just saying hello in their native tongue. So I responded in kind, all in good fun,” Verlander tweeted at the time. “I enjoyed the banter.”
Alvarez, who leads the American League in home runs (31) and runs batted in (70), was the only Astros player to make this year’s All-Star Game. It’s the first time the Astros, who entered the break with a 47-51 record and 3 games out of the AL West lead, have been limited to one All-Star since 2014 when Jose Altuve was the lone representative.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ Junior Caminero, one of the candidates for American League MVP along with Alvarez, had a scary moment in the third inning when he was hit by a pitch on the pinky. X-rays on the hand showed no broken bones, according to Fox’s Tom Verducci. Caminero, playing for the team with the best record in the the AL, entered the break with 28 home runs and a .927 OPS that ranks third in the league behind only Alvarez and Rice. After Caminero got up off the dirt, he went immediately to the clubhouse and left the game.