Yordan Alvarez keeps giving the Astros something to hang onto.
While Houston has slipped in the AL playoff race, its designated hitter is still piling up the kind of numbers that make an MVP case hard to ignore. On Monday, Alvarez went 3-for-4 with two home runs in an 8-5 win over the Miami Marlins, a victory that snapped the Astros’ four-game losing streak.
The two blasts gave Alvarez 32 and 33 homers on the season. He entered the day as the AL home run leader, and after Monday he was tied with Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber for the most home runs among all batters in 2026.
The performance only added to what has already been a big season for the four-time All-Star. After injuries limited the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year to 48 games last year, Alvarez has bounced back in a major way. He entered Monday leading the AL in home runs, batting average at .319 and RBI with 73, while also sitting atop the majors in on-base percentage at .429 and slugging percentage at .633.
Per ESPN, Alvarez is the favorite to win league MVP at -165, and the gap between him and second-place Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (+450) could widen after this outing.
His first homer came on an 88 mph slider, a 428-foot shot to right field that followed Jeremy Pena’s grand slam and gave Houston back-to-back home runs. Alvarez struck again in the fifth, this time turning on a 94 mph four-seamer from Marlins reliever Lake Bachar and sending it 419 feet to right-center to stretch the lead again.
Houston may be sitting at 48-54, but Alvarez is still keeping the club in the conversation. The Astros also got a little help in the AL West, the weakest division in the majors, where the Texas Rangers entered the day in first at 50-50 with a negative-31 run differential before losing to the Chicago White Sox, who improved to 53-46.
Even if Houston never makes a real playoff push, Alvarez is tracking toward an MVP finish. He took another step against Miami, and the case is getting stronger by the day.
In Other News...
Pete Fairbanks Wastes Another Eury Prez Gem As Marlins Spiral
Eury Prez gave Miami exactly the kind of start it needed on July 19, turning in six scoreless innings and keeping the Marlins in position to snap out of a rough stretch. The right-hander has been the one steady presence in a lineup that has struggled to find much rhythm, and his latest outing fit the pattern of a pitcher doing his part while the offense and bullpen try to catch up.
Instead, the Marlins left Milwaukee with their sixth straight loss, a 3-1 defeat that deepened the frustration around a club still hanging around the NL wild-card race. Miami remains four games over .500 and in a three-way tie for the final spot, which is why every missed chance stings a little more, especially when a strong start like Prezs ends with the game slipping away late. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Just Got A Concerning Max Meyer Update
Max Meyers latest turn in the rotation has taken an unwelcome detour, and the timing is especially frustrating for a Marlins staff that had been trying to keep him on a steady rhythm. After working through a career-long 10-day gap between starts, Meyer looked out of sync in Saturdays outing, and Miami has now had to make a corresponding move to cover the innings.
Zach Brzykcy was brought up from Triple-A Jacksonville to fill the roster spot, but the bigger concern is what this means for Meyers immediate availability and the teams plans around him. The Marlins have been trying to manage his workload carefully as he pushes past several personal benchmarks, and any interruption now adds another layer of uncertainty to a pitcher they were counting on to keep building. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Bullpen Gamble Looks Worse After Another Pete Fairbanks Meltdown
Pete Fairbanks season has become one of the more frustrating subplots in Miamis bullpen, because the Marlins have gotten the one thing they can never quite count on from a reliever in his role: availability. He has stayed on the mound and taken the ball regularly, which matters in a market where free-agent closers are often judged by both health and results, but the results have been hard to ignore. Through 33 games, Fairbanks has carried a 7.42 ERA and has had multiple outings turn ugly in a hurry, even if the save total still looks serviceable on paper.
The problem for Miami is that the margin for error is shrinking, and each rough appearance makes the offseason gamble look a little more expensive. Fairbanks has blown only three of 16 save chances, but the bigger issue is how often he has put the Marlins in danger before the ninth inning is even over. At some point, the club has to decide whether the current usage still makes sense, or whether a different late-game plan is needed to keep these losses from piling up. [Read more 🡒]