3 Takeaways from the Houston Astros’ ALDS Game 2 victory

The Houston Astros yet again came back against the Seattle Mariners and yet again it was the bat of Yordan Alvarez that provided the difference in the game. Framber Valdez bent but didn’t break and Kyle Tucker along with Alex Bregman had an RBI each to give the Astros a 4-2 win.

Here are three takeaways from the Houston Astros’ 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 2of the ALDS

For the first time this postseason the Mariners’ offense was held under four runs. Though it wasn’t without some close calls.

Between a Jarred Kelenic near miss to right field with a home run to the line shot that if Yuli Gurriel isn’t holding Adam Frazier at first it’s a double down the line giving the Mariners at least second and third with no one out and Julio Rodriguez coming to the plate.

But the Astros survived despite the Mariners’ constant pressure and they continued to produce off Seattle’s best reliever Andres Munoz. They also beat ace Luis Castillo who seemed to be their best option to make this a series again.

The Astros’ three, four and five hitters provided all the offense the team needed and the bullpen once again held serve.

With all that said here are the three main takeaways from what we saw in game two of the Astros victory over the Mariners putting them in a commanding 2-0 lead heading back to Seattle for game three.

Astros ALDS Game 2 takeaway 1 — Jeremy Pena has been clutch as a set-up man for Yordan Alvarez

It goes without saying that Yordan Alvarez is putting up video game numbers so far in the first two games going four for eight with seven RBI and two home runs, both of which turned a Mariners lead into a Mariners deficit.

But none of those opportunities for Alvarez happen without Jeremy Pena who three times in this series has come up with two outs in the inning and gotten on base for both Alvarez and Alex Bregman to drive him in.

In Game 1 Pena was able to fight off a slider up the middle in a 1-2 count to set up Yordan Alvarez’s rock star home run to win the game.

In game two it was more of the same as in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and Luis Castillo straight rolling having retired eight straight Astros Pena was able to hit a fly ball to center field perfectly placed between Julio Rodriguez and Adam Frazier.

That led to Alvarez coming to the plate and knocking an opposite field home run that gave the Astros a 3-2 lead.

In the eighth it was yet again Jeremy Pena with two outs working a walk forcing the Mariners to intentionally walk Yordan Alvarez and then face Alex Bregman who drove Pena in with a single to right.

It’s always the hitter who knocks the runs in that gets the attention but Pena has taken what could be a breezy one two three inning for Mariners pitching and forced them to face the most feared hitters in the Astros lineup.

Suffice to say, Pena is thriving in the two hole and doing exactly what the Astros need by prolonging innings and giving their big boppers chances to blow the game up.

Astros ALDS Game 2 takeaway 2 –Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero pitched again rather than a rested Ryne Stanek

Dusty Baker has overall made the right moves in the postseason over the past two years with the Houston Astros.

But yesterday was a truly puzzling move leaving the reliever with the lowest ERA not just on this team, but any team in Astros history in the bullpen despite the fact that he didn’t pitch in game one.

The more hitters see the same pitchers the more familiar they get with them and while Bryan Abreu did a fine job in relief, Rafael Montero had some hard hit balls that happened to find gloves (more on that in a moment.)

Giving Montero one out in the seventh to finish off the inning makes sense but to then have him get three more outs when a fresh Ryne Stanek is sitting in the bullpen is confusing to say the least.

While the Astros won the game it was hardly without its fair share of scares with Montero on the mound. The final out of the seventh inning was a hard shot off the bat of Eugenio Suarez which held up just long enough for Alvarez to get to and in the eighth inning Jarred Kelenic narrowly missed a home run to right field.

Montero had also thrown 21 pitches going into his at-bat with Cal Raleigh so to not have Stanek even warming up in case things got out of control as they almost did a couple of times just doesn’t add up.

Baker after the game said Ryne Stanek was available too so there’s no illness or injury holding him back.

Suffice to say it worked out for the Astros today but not without their fair share of luck. Which brings us to the final takeaway.