BALTIMORE -- Pedro Alvarez was a big part of the Orioles' turnaround on Friday night, belting a pair of homers in Baltimore's 6-0 series-opening win over Detroit.
"Pete has been so close on some balls. He's such a good teammate, smart guy. Everybody pulls for Pete because he's done it the right way," manager Buck Showalter said of Alvarez, who made the club as a non-roster invitee this spring after spending all of last year at Triple-A.
"This guy has been [in the Minors] and he's grinded like heck to get an opportunity," said Showalter. "And when he hits a couple home runs like that, everybody kind of smiles inside."
After Manny Machado's first-inning homer, Alvarez added some insurance with a first-pitch solo shot off Tigers starter Mike Fiers with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
He struck again with a two-run blast off right-handed reliever Johnny Barbato, sending a 1-0 slider into left-center field with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. The homer, Alvarez's fourth on the year, scored Danny Valencia.
"We all try and do our part" Alvarez said of his 14th career multi-homer game, and first since Aug. 5, 2016. "Every time I go up there, I see pitches and try and do my best. Fortunately, I put some good swings on them and [was able to] drive them out of the park."