HOUSTON -- The chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” grew louder with every step slugger Yordan Alvarez made toward home plate in the ninth inning Saturday night. Alvarez had already homered and driven in four runs to help the Astros wipe out a five-run deficit, but everybody inside Daikin Park was thinking the same thing.
Astros manager Joe Espada was thinking it, second baseman Jose Altuve -- standing on first base after having just walked -- was thinking it and, truth be told, the Rays were probably even thinking it as well. Alvarez was about to have his Most Valuable Player moment.
With a huge crowd awaiting July 4 fireworks, Alvarez provided some a few minutes early by launching a two-run walk-off home run to straightaway center field off reliever Casey Lugumina to send Houston to a thrilling 10-8 come-from-behind win, snapping Tampa Bay’s nine-game winning streak.
“It was something special,” Alvarez said. “There was no better way than to finish this game than with a home run. Normally, I don’t pay really much attention to the crowd or the bleachers, but it was really cool, the people chanting 'MVP.'”
Alvarez crushed a 1-2 fastball and sent it a Statcast-projected 424 feet over the center-field wall to send shockwaves through the ballpark. The Astros, who trailed, 7-2, in the fourth inning against AL June Pitcher of the Month Drew Rasmussen, poured out of the dugout and mobbed Alvarez at home plate, dousing him with water.
"He's just such a complete hitter,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You see him hit the ball out of the ballpark; you see him go the other way. There's no one way to get him out for sure. I think he sees pitches and puts it in the back of his recall, and he's ready for it the next time you go to it."
On the day he was selected to start at designated hitter for the American League in the All-Star Game, Alvarez went 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBIs, padding his league home run lead with 29 and taking over the lead in RBIs with 67. He is hitting ..324 (just behind the Rays' Yandy Díaz at .325), putting him on the cusp of leading the AL in all three Triple Crown categories.
Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, had an RBI single in the fifth and hit a sac fly with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh, an inning during which Houston scored three times to tie the game.
“He’s hands down the best player right now in the league,” said Altuve, the 2017 AL MVP. “It’s crazy, everything he’s doing. He does it over and over. We know he’s going to hit a lot of homers, but when he hits it, we’re still surprised. It’s amazing. He deserves everything happening to him right now. I’m just excited he’s on our team.”
It was the 26th career multihomer game for Alvarez, surpassing Lance Berkman and moving into second place behind Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell (31) on the team’s all-time list. He’s homered in three of the past four games, going 10-for-16 with 11 RBIs in that span on the heels of an 0-for-16 slump he snapped Tuesday.
“Every time he comes to bat, we have a good chance to score,” said Altuve, who was on base four times in front of Alvarez. “He can change the game with one swing, and he did it twice tonight. He can beat you with a single to the other way, or a homer. He’s just really good.”
The Astros have won nine games in a row on Independence Day, the third-longest streak in Major League history. They’ve won two of those games -- on Saturday and in 2022 -- on walk-off home runs by Alvarez, making him the only player in Major League history to have multiple walk-offs on July 4.
“You just expect Yordan to do the things he does,” said Houston right-hander Hunter Brown, who allowed seven runs in four innings. “That was sick.”