Yordan Alvarez did not ease into his Friday night in Kansas City. The Astros slugger walked into Kauffman Stadium and turned the very first inning into his own home run derby, leaving the Royals and their pitchers reeling after a nine-run opening avalanche that rewrote a slice of baseball history.
Two Homers, Six RBIs Before Royals Could Breathe
Alvarez got the party started with an opposite-field two-run shot off starter Luinder Avila, staking Houston to an early lead. Before the Royals could fully regroup, the Astros lineup rolled over and Alvarez stepped in again. This time, with two outs and the bases loaded, he unloaded a grand slam off reliever Mason Black.
Those two swings alone produced six of Houston’s nine first-inning runs and forced Kansas City to dig into the bullpen almost immediately. The full sequence and play-by-play are laid out on MLB.com.
By the time the inning finally ended, Alvarez had done something no big-league hitter had ever accomplished in an opening frame.
A First-Inning Feat That Crashed the Record Books
As reported by the Associated Press (via The Washington Post), Alvarez became the first player in Major League history to hit a grand slam and another multi-run homer specifically in the first inning of a game.
AP coverage also notes he is only the eighth player ever to hit a grand slam and a multi-run homer in the same inning at any stage of a game, and the first to pull it off since Kendrys Morales in 2012, according to Sportradar. It is the kind of rare air that fits neatly with Alvarez’s status this season as one of baseball’s most feared power bats.
What It Means for Alvarez and the Astros
That opening eruption gave Alvarez six RBIs in a single inning and, with the two homers, pulled him even with Kyle Schwarber for the Major League lead. According to MLB.com, the blasts were his 23rd and 24th of the season.
MLB.com also points out that Alvarez joined Lee May and Jeff Bagwell as the only Astros ever to homer twice in one inning, a short but powerful list that highlights just how rarely even Houston’s power-packed lineups have seen this kind of outburst.
For the Astros, that nine-run first felt like more than just a fast start. It was a blunt reminder that when Alvarez locks in, he can flip a game, and sometimes an entire series, in the span of a couple of at-bats.
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