Díaz rides hot bat to another starting nod
Astros utilityman Aledmys Díaz earned his second consecutive start in left field against the Mariners on Saturday, one night after he went 3-for-5 with two homers in an 11-1 Astros win. He didn’t disappoint, going 3-for-3 with a home run.
Friday was Díaz’s third career multihomer game as he crushed dingers to open and close the scoring. Entering Saturday, Díaz had homered eight times in his career with 26 RBI against the Mariners, more than against any other opponent.
“The last month I’ve been feeling great at the plate,” he said. “Just glad to, every time I get the chance to be in the lineup, to contribute to the win.”
He’s logged more playing time lately with Michael Brantley on the injured list, and started in left field on Friday before switching to second base for the final three innings. When Díaz has been in the lineup, he delivers. Díaz has hit safely in 13 of his last 17 games, in that span batting .303 (20-for-66).
The Astros and manager Dusty Baker have repeatedly praised the value of Díaz’s versatility, which he has been able to showcase even more this season by avoiding injury.
Díaz played in his 65th game on Saturday, which was Houston’s 102nd game of the season. In 2021, he played in just 31 of the Astros’ first 102 games after a left hand fracture caused him to miss 43 games in June and July.
“It has been a learning process for me in the last four years, how I’ve been able to learn how to prepare myself to play different positions and stay focused on the field,”
Díaz said. “I’m feeling great right now. I think my weight the last two years has been a big part of the success to be healthy. You know, I keep the program we have with the trainers and hopefully stay healthy the rest of the year.”
Verlander builds Cy Young case
At 39 and making a comeback from Tommy John surgery, Justin Verlander is steadily building a resumé that merits consideration for a Cy Young Award — which he won in 2011 and 2019. Asked about the
significance of possibly winning a third time, the ace let out a chuckle.
“I can’t really put into words what that would mean,” he said after pitching 72⁄3 innings and allowing one run in Friday’s win over Seattle. “All of this is just such a blessing after the last couple of years, Tommy John. I feel a bit redundant but you know, all the hard work that went into it, to be able to be back and be successful and a lot of doubters — kind of just had to believe
in myself. And my family had my back and my teammates have my back. If that were to happen, it would just be incredible.”
Verlander notched his major-league-best 14th win of the season (240th for his career) and lowered his season ERA to 1.81, second-best among
all qualified pitchers.
Alvarez eclipses franchise mark
Yordan Alvarez became the fastest player in Astros franchise history
to reach 30 home runs in a single season, doing so in 84 games with his sixth-inning blast on Friday off Mariners reliever Tommy Milone.
Alvarez’s seven-game stint on the injured list slowed his chase for MLB’s home run title, but he continued to close in on Aaron Judge (41) and Kyle Schwarber (32).
“Definitely feels good, but that’s not something I really think about too much,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “Obviously, every player wants to go out there and try to hit a home run every day but that’s something that doesn’t happen. Just try to go out there, just do the best that I can.”
Since he was activated on the first day after the All-Star break, Alvarez is batting .435 (10-for-23) with three doubles, four home runs and nine RBI. Friday’s performance raised his OPS to 1.110 on the season.
“I’m through being surprised,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I’ve been around some great hitters and he’s fast approaching that area of excellence.”
Space Cowboys blank Dodgers
Peter Solomon and Chad Donato combined on a two-hit shutout and Corey Julks and Taylor Jones homered and drove in two runs each as Sugar Land won 6-0 at Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Solomon (5-5) did not allow a hit in five scoreless innings. Donato picked up his second save with four innings of twohit ball.