Daily dose of Yordan (Game 152)

Today's statline: 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI

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At bat 1 (Top of first): 3 pitch home run to center, 2 RBIs, R

Yordan took the first two pitches of the at bat, both pitches well off the plate, a fastball way outside and a curve way down in the zone. Altuve stole second after the first pitch, a heads-up move by him there to easily take the base after reading the delivery of the pitcher well. Then the starting pitcher (Named Janson Junk, that last name will be relevant soon) threw Yordan a pitch you just cannot throw to him, a middle-middle fastball right down the middle. He just yanked it right off his bat, driving it extremely deep into center field for a no-doubt 2 run home run to start off the game with a bang. Words can't really describe the hit, everything about it, from the sound it made to the reactions everyone on the field had was perfect. This stillframe is a great image of what happened, everyone just watching and admiring the majestic dong. I swear I could hear that hit from around ~350 miles away, it was just that nice of a swing and result.

At bat 2 (Top of third): 1 pitch groundout to first

Again facing Junk, this time in the third, Yordan swung away at a curveball down but still well within the confines of the zone and made good contact on it, driving it to the right side of the infield with a bit of force. Unfortunately, it was right to the shifted first baseman, who threw the routine out to the pitcher covering first to end the inning.

At bat 3 (Top of sixth): 3 pitch single to center

Facing the new reliever with no one on, Yordan took the first two pitches of the at bat for balls, both low in the zone, just like in the first at bat. The first pitch was a slider low and away that was nowhere close, and the second one another slider that was a bit closer but also way inside for ball two. Then again, Yordan forced the Angels pitcher to throw a fastball right down the middle, and once again, he made solid contact on it, as he dumped it into center field for a single despite being slightly jammed by the pitch. A good job by him to simply muscle out a hit on a pitch he was targeting, even though he would be erased on the bases soon after on a Tucker fielder's choice.

At bat 4 (Top of eighth): 5 pitch double to center, RBI, R

Facing Steve Cishek in the top of the inning now down by two runs, Yordan started the at bat by watching two offspeed pitches, one inside and one outside, but both off the plate to work into a 2-0 count. He then took a no-doubt take on an offspeed pitch right down the middle, before ripping yet another breaking pitch foul down the line to even the count at 2-2. Cishek then went back to the breaking ball well one too many times, as he hung a terrible slider right down the middle that Yordan launched into center field, missing a home run by mere inches. Still a great job to keep the line moving and put the Astros back within one, he would later score the huge tying run on a Gurriel single to bloop center.

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Yordan started the game in LF but was suddenly pulled in the eighth after seemingly walking out to start the inning in LF. Pretty confusing move, I guess it was defense oriented but it's always confusing when your (arguably) best bat is benched in the later innings. We'll see how that pans out.

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EDIT: Yordan's replacement in the double switch, Jose Siri, didn't bat at all, but Aledmys Diaz pinch hit for him and went 0-2 with 2 strikeouts. He did look a lot better in the field though, so I guess it worked out in the end. Overall just a great game from Yordan, capitalizing early and often on the terrible pitches the Angels pitchers were throwing him.