Yordan Alvarez Hits 26th Home Run of Season in 5-2 Astros Win

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez got himself one home run closer in the 2022 MLB home run race on Thursday, hitting his 26th of the season in just his 73rd game.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has stolen much of the spotlight this season when it comes to the AL MVP race, but Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez is carving out his own spotlight at the moment for the award.

The left-handed slugger is leading the American League in a number of offensive categories and on Thursday, he hit his 26th home run of the season, an opposite-field shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field.

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His home run traveled just 355 feet and thanks to the oddity of the Crawford Boxes, it was considered a home run unicorn, meaning that it would have only went out at Minute Maid Park.

That 355-foot shot traveled 103.5 MPH off the bat, his 95th batted ball of 100 MPH or more this season. 

Alvarez is in the 100th percentile in Major League Baseball in both average exit velocity and hard hit percentage, coming into Thursday's game with an average exit velocity of 95.9 MPH and a hard hit percentage of 60.9 percent.

When it comes to Alvarez, he is just in a different stratosphere this season offensively and that's exactly what the Astros gave him a massive extension for.

The home run came at a crucial time for the Astros, who were tied 2-2 with the Kansas City Royals in the fifth inning. 

It gave Astros starter Justin Verlander plenty of insurance as he was dealing, striking out eight over six innings, giving up just one earned run.

Houston scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game away as they improved to 54-28 on the season with a 5-2 win.