Alvarez’s 3 HRs pace record outburst

BALTIMORE — A mound visit was made for reasons unknown to anyone who watched this annihilation. Orioles pitching coach Doug Brocail bounded over to counsel Taylor Scott, the latest Baltimore hurler humiliated by Houston.

What could conceivably be said? How do you reset anyone on a record-setting night of futility? It was the seventh inning. The Astros led by 14 runs. Franchise records were nearing extinction, and the hottest hitter of Houston’s hammering lineup awaited whatever came of this farcical gathering.

Yordan Alvarez ambled to the batter’s box. Scott started the slugger with a sinker and followed with a slider. The breaking pitch hung. Alvarez attacked.

The Astros’ revolutionary rookie launched his first career grand slam, sending the Astros past 20 runs on this crushing night at Camden Yards.

“I just don’t think we should ever put limitations or even expectations on guys; let’s just see how they do,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s obviously gotten off to an incredible start to his career and doing things at a pace that is incredible.”

Alvarez finished Saturday’s 23-2 victory with three home runs and seven RBIs. His 51 RBIs are the most by any man through his first 45 major league games. Saturday’s effort put him past Hall of Famer Ted Williams for the record.

Alvarez finished with three home runs — hammering another in the ninth off Orioles center fielder Stevie Wilkerson’s softball-style offering to complete the Oriole obliteration.

“Just trying to hit the ball hard,” Alvarez said through an interpreter, “and hit it well.

“Everyone was very happy. Everyone knows the chemistry of this team,” he added. “When something goes well for one of us, it goes well for all of us. To be able to celebrate with my teammates all my good fortune was great.”

A day after appearing lethargic against the barren Baltimore pitching staff, the Astros applied a beating befitting of both clubs. They swung in a manner that suggested they could name the score, totaling a franchise record 23 runs. They matched another club high with 25 hits. Their 12 extra-base hits broke a record set in 2001.

“It’s really hard to explain what happened today,” said Jose Altuve, who went 3 for 6 and hit his 20th homer. “Such a great game for us, a lot of good at-bats put together.

“This is what happens when you go out there and try to just have a good at-bat.”

All of Alvarez’s home runs landed dangerously close to Eutaw Street beyond the right field concourse. His first, a 442-foot solo shot in the first, bounced off a railing and landed on the street. Players who hit the roadway on the fly are rewarded with a commemorative plaque. “Tomorrow,” Alvarez joked. Carlos Correa lifted the longest home run (474 feet) Statcast has ever measured at Camden Yards in the third, only beginning this beating.

The only Astro ever to hit one that far since Statcast started tracking distances? Alvarez.

“He was joking with me that he has more power than me,” Alvarez said.

Ten different Astros had hits. Five had three hits, and Yuli Gurriel had a four-hit night for the fourth time in his major league career.

Houston hit six home runs, upping Baltimore pitchers’ season total to 240. Nineteen more, and the staff will set a major league record.

They chased Baltimore starter Aaron Brooks after three torturous innings. He yielded nine earned runs and four of the Astros’ six home runs.

Said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde: “By the third inning I was like ‘How am I going to finish this game?’ ”

By the fifth inning, the Astros struck 12 balls in play 100 mph or harder.

Eight of their first 13 hits in that span garnered extra bases.

Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman ended their days early. Fittingly, replacements Aledmys Diaz and Jake Marisnick combined for five more hits.

“It was a treat for me,” said starter Aaron Sanchez, who followed six no-hit innings in his Astros debut by allowing just one run on three hits in five innings Saturday. “That’s special. I said when I first got here that one through nine is dangerous. Even the guys that came off the bench.”

Julio Cortez / Associated Press Astros phenom Yordan Alvarez is greeted in the dugout after a first-inning solo shot. He proceeded to hit two more home runs, including his first career grand slam.