Yordan Alvarez shines again as Astros take 2-0 series lead over Mariners

HOUSTON -- Yordan Alvarez slugged a two-run, two-out home run in the sixth inning and the Houston Astros fended off the Seattle Mariners 4-2 in Game 2 of this American League Division Series on Thursday at Minute Maid Park. Alvarez, whose walk-off, three-run homer carried the Astros to a dramatic victory in Game 1, lifted Houston to a 2-0 series lead with his opposite-field shot off Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo. The Astros will pursue the sweep in Game 3 on Saturday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Castillo (1-1) had surrendered two hits entering the sixth inning, the first being a solo home run to Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker that spotted Houston a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Castillo recovered and retired 13 of the subsequent 14 batters, with Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena delivering a leadoff double in the fourth to interrupt his run of dominance. Pena struck again in the sixth, blooping a single into shallow center field to set the table for Alvarez, who was 0-for-2 with a soft grounder back to the mound in the first inning and a harmless fly ball to left in the fourth. Alvarez pounced on Castillo in their third confrontation, drilling a 98.3 mile-per-hour fastball into the left-field seats for a 3-2 lead. Castillo allowed three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings. Pena recorded a two-out single ahead of Alvarez in the ninth inning of Game 1. He worked a two-out walk ahead of Alvarez in the eighth on Thursday and scored when Alex Bregman delivered an opposite-field single to right off Mariners reliever Andres Munoz after Seattle intentionally walked Alvarez. Pena finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs. The Mariners erased the 1-0 deficit with a two-spot in the fourth off Astros left-hander Framber Valdez, who needed 26 pitches to escape the frame. Eugenio Suarez walked and scored on a Carlos Santana fielder's choice after Valdez fielded the grounder and threw wildly to home. Mitch Haniger, whose double pushed Suarez to third, scored when Dylan Moore singled. Astros right-handers Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero later recorded critical outs in relief. Neris induced Cal Raleigh to roll into an inning-ending groundout with the bases loaded in the sixth. Abreu struck out Julio Rodriguez for the second out of the seventh with the tying run on base and Montero got Raleigh on a called third strike to hold the one-run lead in the eighth. Astros closer Ryan Pressly worked around a two-out double from Rodriguez to earn the save, boosted by a J.P Crawford lineout into a double play that erased Adam Frazier at first base. -- By MK Bower, Field Level Media