Even Yordan Alvarez couldn't save this one. The Padres took over.
The Houston Astros dropped a pretty important series Sunday at Petco Park. They were once on a winning streak, and now they have to recover from a brutal loss as they make their way up the coast to take on the Giants Monday night.
Cristian Javier got the ball for Houston in his sixth start of the year, going up against Randy Vásquez for the Padres. Alvarez, who's up for MVP and chasing the Triple Crown, was off to a rough start, striking out early, and it didn't get much better for him as the game went on.
Daulton Varsho stepped up with two outs and Taylor Trammell on base and launched a two-run homer, his eighth of the season. Jackson Merrill answered right back for the Padres with a home run of his own.
Fernando Tatis Jr. then launched a three-run homer, 421 feet, 110 off the bat, putting the Padres ahead 4-2 for good. He'd been heating up lately, with three homers in his last five games, and this one continued that stretch. Gavin Sheets added another homer as San Diego started to take over the game.
Vásquez was efficient all night, needing just 62 pitches to get through five innings. The Astros just couldn't get anything going against him.
Just when things couldn't get worse, they did. Austin Hays, pinch hitting for the first time in a Padres uniform, crushed a home run. Just like that, the Padres owned this game, something Houston hadn't dealt with in quite some time. And recovery was nowhere in sight.
The game ended with Alvarez striking out. A brutal loss for Houston, and the Padres took the series. Houston still hasn't won a series at Petco Park since 2015. This was not the direction the Astros needed to go in after building all of that momentum. A loss like that is a tough one to come back from. But they've been making comebacks all season, so you never know.
Even Alvarez, who is fighting for the Triple Crown, couldn't find a hit. He's still Alvarez, it just wasn't his night, frankly it was no one's night except the Padres'. He's still well on his way, continuing to lead the AL and sitting close to the top of the entire league.
The Astros have an ugly loss to shake off as they head up the coast to face the Giants, kicking off a series Monday. Securing a win there is crucial to keeping their AL West lead.
