For the second night in a row, the Los Angeles Angels had a decision to make with Yordan Alvarez at the plate in a critical spot late in a tie game. For the second night in a row, they paid for it.
Alvarez lined a go-ahead single into center field off left-hander Mitch Farris in the top of the ninth Tuesday, scoring pinch-runner Nick Allen and lifting the Houston Astros to a 3-2 win over the Angels at Angel Stadium, clinching the series.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Alvarez said afterward, through an interpreter, of the Angels’ choice to pitch to him. “Yesterday it didn’t work for them.”
The rally started modestly. Allen, pinch-hitting, opened the ninth with a double. After Lucas Spence struck out, Christian Vázquez slapped a single to move Allen to third. Jeremy Peña struck out for his fourth punchout of the night, bringing up Alvarez with the go-ahead run 90 feet away. He didn’t waste any time, driving Farris’ first pitch back up the middle.
Alvarez had opened the scoring in the first inning with a solo homer off Angels starter Reid Detmers. Christian Walker matched him with a solo shot in the fourth, snapping a 14-game homerless streak, but the Angels answered twice, tying the game first on a Vaughn Grissom RBI single in the third and again on a Jorge Soler double in the fifth that scored Mike Trout.
Peter Lambert kept Houston in it with five innings of two-run ball, allowing seven hits and striking out six. He relied heavily on his changeup, which produced eight whiffs on 20 swings. Three relievers—Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan Abreu, and Steven Okert—combined for three scoreless innings behind him, with Abreu’s outing trimming his ERA below 5.00 for the first time all season. Josh Hader closed it out in the ninth for his 14th save, needing just four pitches.
The win improved Houston to 53-55 on the season, 2½ games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West. Alvarez’s homer was his major-league-leading 35th of the season, comfortably ahead of Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, who sits second with 33.
Houston closes out the series Wednesday, with first pitch at 8:38 p.m. Central, when Hayden Wesneski makes his return from the injured list to face Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.
