By LUKE OLSON Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Yordan Alvarez resumed his Triple Crown push with a home run and three RBIs as the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 7-0 on Tuesday night to pull even with Texas atop the AL West.
Houston snapped a three-game skid and tied the Rangers at 78-79 following their 6-3 loss to the New York Mets at home. Both teams have five games remaining, and the Astros hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Seattle (73-84) is on the brink of playoff elimination, one season after winning the AL West for the first time in 24 years and coming within one victory of the franchise’s first World Series appearance.
Alvarez hit a two-run drive to right field in the eighth inning to tie Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League lead with 41 homers. Alvarez is first in batting average at .314 and he has 102 RBIs, six behind Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso for most in the AL.
Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012 was the most recent hitter to win a Triple Crown by leading his league in all three of those statistical categories.
Alvarez hit an RBI single in the first to reach 100 RBIs for the second time in his career. Christian Walker belted a three-run homer to make it 4-0 in the third, and Isaac Paredes added a solo shot in the sixth.
It was the 200th home run of Walker’s career and his 26th this season.
Cam Smith snapped an 0-for-26 skid with a double.
Houston starter Cristian Javier was removed after two innings with right groin tightness. He threw 45 pitches. Miguel Ullola (1-0) followed with two innings of one-hit ball for his first major league win.
Bennett Sousa, AJ Blubaugh and Logan VanWey completed the four-hitter.
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (12-11) lasted only four innings, yielding four runs on 10 hits — the most hits he’s allowed in a game this season.
Up next
Rookie right-hander Ethan Pecko (1-0, 3.77 ERA) makes his fifth major league start Wednesday for Houston against Seattle RHP George Kirby (9-11, 4.24).
___
This story has been corrected to show that Alvarez homered in the eighth inning.
___
See AP’s full MLB coverage here