MLB 2024 | Álvarez drills decisive home run; Cano blows save, suffers first loss; Luis Robert could miss 3-4 months

Cuban Players News for the 2024 Major League Baseball season. A compilation of several sources

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Yordan Álvarez blasted a three-run homer on Sunday night, propelling the Astros to a 3-1 victory over the Rangers in Arlington.

The 26-year-old slugger snapped a scoreless tie with his 378-foot (108.6 mph EV) three-run shot off of right-hander Dane Dunning in the third inning. That would wind up being the only scoring in the ballgame for the Astros, but they made sure that it stood up. Álvarez also drew a walk in the contest, finishing the night 1-for-3. For the season, he’s now hitting .256/.341/.513 with three long balls and six RBI. After a surprisingly poor start to the season -- 2-for-20 through the first five games -- the lefty slugger has gone 8-for-19 (.421) with three long balls over his last five appearances. Álvarez owns an .854 OPS with six RBI and six runs scored.

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Adolis García singled, walked and scored the Rangers’ lone run as they fell to the Astros on Sunday night.

García finally broke up Blanco’s bid for consecutive no-hitters with a two-out single in the sixth inning. The 31-year-old outfielder also worked a walk off of Josh Hader in the ninth inning and scored on a run-scoring single off the bat of Justin Foscue. García finished the evening 1-for-3. He’s off to another terrific start this season — hitting .270/.317/.622 with four homers, 11 RBI and a stolen base.

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According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the White Sox privately fear that Luis Robert Jr. could miss 3-4 months with his Grade 2 hip flexor strain.

Nightengale also notes that the White Sox will explore the free agent market for possible outfield additions and that Tommy Pham could be a potential fit. While the club as yet to acknowledge any sort of timeline publicly regarding Robert’s return, he did miss half a season in 2021 with a similar injury — though the 26-year-old outfielder told reporters on Saturday that he didn’t believe the injury was as severe this time around.

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José Abreu was not in the Astros’ starting lineup for Sunday night’s showdown against the Rangers.

Astros’ skipper Joe Espada said that he liked the matchup for Jon Singleton against right-hander Dane Dunning, but that was not the only reason that Abreu was sitting. The 37-year-old has been dropped down in the lineup a couple of times already and is slashing an anemic .074/.138/.074 with zero RBI and a 9/1 K/BB ratio through eight games on the season. He’s just starting the second year on his three-year, $58.5 million deal with the Astros, so it’s unlikely that they’ll do something completely drastic and cut him, but eventually something has to give. Abreu went 0-for-1 after entering the game in the eighth inning.

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Yennier Cano took a blown save and a loss in the ninth after giving up two runs — one earned — in two-thirds of an inning against the Pirates.

Craig Kimbrel had this one off after pitching the previous two days. Working with a one-run lead, Cano loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with no outs. He then got a weak grounder than turned into a force play at home (thanks to replay that is, since Dan Iassogna made one of the worst safe calls of all-time on the field) and then induced another grounder up the middle. Gunnar Henderson made a terrific play to field the ball and tag second base, but he then threw wide of first, in part because Rowdy Tellez was in his way jogging to second, and both the tying and winning runs scored. The second run was unearned since, even though the double play can’t be assumed, it was the throw eluding the first baseman that allowed the runner to score from second.

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Randy Arozarena was out of the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Rockies.

For the finale against Colorado, Arozarena rested. For the first time this season, Arozarena is on the bench Sunday after posting a .652 OPS through 37 plate appearances. Is just a preventative measure to get him back on track. Next time the Rays play, Arozarena should be back in the lineup.

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