Alvarez struck out the lone batter he faced and picked up his first hold of the season in Tuesday's 8-7 loss to the Astros.
Manager Jeff Banister has been using the southpaw mostly on a situational basis this season, as Alvarez came on Tuesday to retire the lefty-hitting Josh Reddick. Alvarez has tossed 7.2 scoreless innings to begin the campaign, but a 1.43 WHIP and a 100 percent strand rate suggest that some correction should soon be in order.