3 takeaways from Houston Astros locker room after ALDS Game 2 win over Seattle Mariners

Alex Bregman makes Seattle pay

After hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning, the last thing the Mariners wanted to do was pitch to Alvarez with two outs in the eighth inning. With Jeremy Peña on first base, Seattle manager Scott Servais intentionally walked Alvarez to bring Alex Bregman to the plate.

Stepping into the box with an 0-for-3 performance in the game looming over him, Bregman didn’t take long to make Seattle regret their decision to face him, lining the first pitch he saw from Andrés Muñoz for an RBI single.

“I was just trying to square a ball up. I was just trying to put a good swing on a pitch and was fortunate enough to drive Peña in,” Bregman said. “Peña did a great job of getting on base. He has elite speed, so I had a good feeling when the ball hit the grass that he would score.”

Dusty Baker said that seeing Alvarez get the intentional walk with a man already at first reminded him of some at-bats featuring Barry Bonds when pitchers wanted nothing to do with him. However, he also gave credit to Bregman for driving in the run that gave Houston a two-run cushion.

“Bregman rises to the occasion too. That’s why I got Bregman hitting behind Yordan because all you need in that situation is a base hit,” Baker said.