Yordan’s two-homer game help Astros sweep Mets in mini-series

Before running into the Astros for a two-game series, the Mets had won six of their last eight contests. But there was a very bad man right on the way to stop them. And that man’s name is Yordan Álvarez, who enjoyed a two-run homer game on Wednesday to carry the Astros to a 5-3 win. Now, Houston has a 6-1 record in their last seven games.

Álvarez, who also hit a long ball on Tuesday’s game, went 2-for-4 with his two rockets, two RBIs, two scored runs, and a strikeout. This was Yordan’s fourth multi-homer game of the season, tied for second-most with Shohei Ohtani, Byron Buxton, and Mike Trout – only Aaron Judge has more (5).

Álvarez’s first home run of the afternoon and 20th of the season (408 feet) came as part of a back-to-back with Alex Bregman, good enough to cap a four-run first inning against opponent starter Carlos Carrasco.

In the third inning, with a 4-1 score, Álvarez took Carlos Carrasco deep again with a 412-foot round-tripper, his 21st bomb of the campaign, which is tied for second-most with Mike Trout. This is the fourth time this season Álvarez has hit multiple 400-foot long balls in a game, tied with Shohei Ohtani for most in MLB.

With these two homers, Álvarez certifies he’s owning June with a .443 batting average (27-for-61), four doubles, a triple, seven dingers, 23 ribbies, 15 runs, and more walks (8) than strikeouts (7).

Within the Astros’ last 15 seasons, only three players hit more home runs than Álvarez before July 1. Those are Lance Berkman (22, 2008), Alex Bregman (22, 2019), and George Springer (24, 2017). Taking into account the Astros still have seven games to play before the end of June, that’s a difficult but reachable goal for Air Yordan.

The Astros had Luis García starting against Carrasco in a Venezuelan pitching duel. Fortunately, García came out with the best part, going five innings of six hits, three earned runs, a walk, and five punchouts while picking up the win to even his record to 5-5.

Ryne Stanek, who pitched after García, threw another good inning to keep alive his streak of scoreless appearances and getting it to 20 games (18 IP), the longest active streak in MLB after Clay Holmes’ was snapped days ago. Stanek got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by retiring Eduardo Escobar and Dominic Smith.

Héctor Neris, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly combined for one hit allowed and five strikeouts over the game’s final three innings.

From Thursday to Sunday, the Astros will face an even tougher challenge when they visit Yankee Stadium for a four-game series against the red-hot Yankees. Starters Framber Valdez and Jameson Taillon are expected to take the hill to kick off this exciting, well-anticipated matchup.

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