HOUSTON -- Yordan Alvarez was one of a season-high five Astros to homer in Thursday’s 6-2 win over the Royals at Daikin Park, becoming just the fifth player in franchise history to reach 40 homers in a season.
The Astros (77-76) moved one game over .500 with nine games remaining. They began the day tied for first place in the American League West with the Rangers, with Houston owning the tiebreaker over Texas.
Alvarez’s 40th homer, a titanic shot to right field off Seth Lugo in the fifth inning, put the Astros up 4-1. LaMonte Wade Jr. had a solo shot of his own earlier in the inning, following Jeremy Peña's leadoff homer in the first inning and Daulton Varsho's blast in the second.
Alvarez is the first Astros player to hit 40 long balls in a season since Alex Bregman had 41 in 2019. Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell, the franchise’s all-time home run leader, had 42 homers in 1999, 43 in ‘97 and a franchise-record 47 in 2000. Lance Berkman had 42 in 2002 and 45 in ‘06, and Richard Hidalgo had 44 in 2000.
Peña and Alvarez, both of whom took early batting practice prior to Tuesday’s series opener to try to break out of their offensive doldrums, combined for five home runs in the three-game series. Peña’s second leadoff homer in three games made him the fifth Astros player this year to reach 20 homers, joining Alvarez, Isaac Paredes, Cam Smith and Christian Walker.
Astros opener Miguel Ullola had a rocky start to the game, throwing nine straight balls to load the bases with no outs on two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He got a double play to escape the mess with one run allowed, and Bryan King (1 1/3 innings) and Ethan Pecko (5 2/3 innings) combined to send down the next 14 batters.