The Houston Astros punched their ticket to the World Series by winning game six of the ALCS 5-0 against the Boston Red Sox Friday night. Houston used pitching and timely hitting to clinch the series and end Boston’s Cinderella run. But it was 24-year old designated hitter Yordan Alvarez who proved to be a crucial factor in the Astros’ advancing.
Alvarez had a slash line of .521/.538/.869 and had three doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBIs, and seven runs scored. Alvarez had big hits the entire series in the middle of the order for the Astros helping Houston to score 37 runs in six games against the Red Sox.
In the final three games of the ALCS, Alvarez went 9-for-13, and in games five and six, he outhit the Red Sox 7-5. In the series-clinching game, Alvarez went 4-for-4 with a single, a double, and a triple and drove in one run. The designated hitter had 12 total hits in the series and became the second Astros player to record 12 hits joining Jose Altuve who accomplished the feat in the 2020 ALCS.
In 2019, Alvarez won the AL Rookie of the Year. Sporting a batting average of .313, with 27 homers, 26 doubles, and 78 RBIs; early in the 2020 season, Alvarez suffered a partial tear to his patella tendon in his right knee. As a result, Alvarez only played in two games last season. In 2021 Alvarez batted .277 with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs.
His fantastic performance in the ALCS earned Alvarez the ALCS MVP. However, Alvarez is just scratching the surface of what he can do at the plate. He will be a key cog in the Astros offense as they try to capture another World Series title.
The Astros will take on the winner of the Dodgers vs. Braves series which continues this evening in Atlanta. The Braves currently hold a 3 games to 2 edge over the reigning World Series Champions.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83