The Houston Astros still have a great chance to win the American League West division, but they’ll need to ramp up their opportune hitting to do so. Yordan Alvarez’s ankle injury won’t help matters in that regard. Alvarez was sorely missed on Friday night as the Astros registered just three hits (although one of them came off the bat of the reinstated Isaac Paredes).
Houston fell 4-0 to the Seattle Mariners, and its tie atop the AL West turned into a one-game deficit. With two games remaining in this pivotal series, the Astros can still take matters into their own hands by winning both battles.