Despite Sunday's loss (SEA 6, HOU 4), the Houston Astros went to Seattle and took care of business against the Mariners this weekend. They won two of three and moved into a virtual tie atop the AL West. The 52-47 (.5253) Astros are percentage points ahead of the 53-48 (.5248) Mariners after being 10 games back as recently as June 18.
For Houston, the highlight of Sunday's game was the towering Yordan Alvarez hitting for his first career cycle. He singled off Bryan Woo in the first inning, homered off Woo in the fourth, tripled off Tayler Saucedo in the sixth, and doubled off Gregory Santos in the eighth. Alvarez went 4 for 4 and drove in two runs in the game.
Here are Alvarez's four hits, which raised his season batting line to a stout .301/.385/.545:
It should be noted Julio Rodríguez exited the game after crashing into the wall on the Alvarez triple. He stayed down on the field for a few minutes grabbing at his right ankle before eventually walking off the field under his own power, albeit with a limp. The Mariners say X-rays were negative and Rodríguez is currently day-to-day, pending more tests.
Alvarez's cycle is the 10th in Astros' franchise history and the first since Jose Altuve did it in Boston against the Red Sox on Aug. 28 of last season. It is also only the second cycle in T-Mobile Park history. Miguel Tejeda, then with the Oakland Athletics, hit for the cycle at what was then known as Safeco Field on Sept. 29, 2001.
Alvarez's cycle is the second in baseball this season: Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford did the honors against the Baltimore Orioles on June 30. There have been at least four cycles in each of the last six 162-game seasons. We're at two in 2024.
The Astros and Mariners have one last head-to-head series remaining. They'll play three games at Minute Maid Park Sept. 23-25. That is the second-to-last series of 2024 and it could be a very important one.
