4 Houston Astros to blame for Game 1 ALCS loss to Rangers
By Mark Powell
Astros fans should blame Yordan Alvarez for Game 1 loss
Yordan Alvarez is a bit of reach by me here, as the majority of Houston's lineup failed to live up to high expectations in Game 1 against Montgomery, who pitched as well as one would expect. Alvarez is one of the best power hitters in baseball when healthy, and seemingly improves come the postseason. Yet, Alvarez struggled on Sunday night against Montgomery, as so many other Houston hitters did. Alvarez struck out three times against Montgomery's curveball.
"When it comes out of his hand, it looks like a fastball," Álvarez said, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. "That makes it a little more difficult. The way he releases the ball, the angle he releases it, makes it a little bit more difficult to pick it up and makes it look like a fastball."
This is what Yordan Alvarez has seen through two PA tonight, and it is maybe the funniest thing I have ever seen pic.twitter.com/ctmgGSaKIv
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) October 16, 2023
Jonah Heim and Montgomery had a simple plan with Alvarez -- pitch inside. They made Yordan uncomfortable early and often, and it paid dividends. Alvarez failed to get much going when Houston needed him most.