Yordan Alvarez gave his Triple Crown hopes a significant boost Tuesday night, and with five games remaining in the regular season, the Astros slugger still has a chance to make history.
Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Houston’s 7-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. His 41st homer tied Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero for the American League lead, while his three RBI raised his season total to 102. Alvarez also leads the AL with a .314 batting average.
Alvarez Leads the Batting Race
Alvarez enters Wednesday at .314, five points ahead of Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson at .309.
A batting title would put Alvarez alongside Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel as the only Astros to win one.
Home Run Race Is Deadlocked
Alvarez’s 41st home run pulled him even with Caminero for the AL lead. Baltimore’s Pete Alonso is right behind them with 40.
No Astros player has ever finished a season as the league leader in home runs.
RBI Remains the Biggest Obstacle
The third leg of the Triple Crown presents Alvarez with his biggest challenge.
Alonso leads the American League with 108 RBI, six ahead of Alvarez. Caminero is third with 97.
Alvarez helped close the gap Tuesday, driving in three runs with an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run homer in the eighth.
An Unusual Elimination Scenario
There’s also an unusual wrinkle in Wednesday’s Blue Jays-Orioles doubleheader. Both teams entered the day with an elimination number of one, meaning a split would eliminate both teams from postseason contention.
For Alvarez’s Triple Crown chase, the doubleheader also gives Pete Alonso two games Wednesday to add to his home run and RBI totals.
History Is Possible Even Without the Triple Crown
Even if Alvarez cannot erase the RBI deficit, winning the other two categories could put him in rare company.
The last player to lead his league in both batting average and home runs without also leading in RBI was Ted Williams in 1941.
Williams famously hit .406 that season and led the American League with 37 home runs. He drove in 120 runs, while Joe DiMaggio led the league with 125.
Johnny Mize accomplished the same feat in the National League in 1939. Mize led the league with a .349 average and 28 home runs but finished with 108 RBI. Cincinnati’s Frank McCormick led the NL with 128.
Babe Ruth also narrowly missed a Triple Crown this way in 1924. Ruth led the American League with a .378 average and 46 home runs but finished tied for second with 124 RBI, five behind Washington’s Goose Goslin.
If Alvarez finishes atop the AL in batting average and home runs but not RBI, he would become the first player in 85 years to do it.
Five Games Remain
The Triple Crown is still within reach, although Alvarez has the most work to do in the RBI race.
Miguel Cabrera was the last player to win a Triple Crown, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBI for Detroit in 2012.
With five games remaining, Alvarez leads one Triple Crown category, shares the lead in another, and trails by six in the third. Whatever happens over the final days of the regular season, he still has a chance to put his name alongside some of baseball’s most celebrated hitters.
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