Tampa Bay Rays at Houston Astros

The chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” grew louder with every step slugger Yordan Alvarez made toward home plate in the ninth inning Saturday night. Alvarez had already homered and driven in four runs to help the Astros wipe out a five-run deficit, but everybody inside Daikin Park was thinking the same thing. Astros manager Joe Espada was thinking it, second baseman Jose Altuve -- standing on first base after having just walked -- was thinking it and, truth be told, the Rays were probably even thinking it as well. Alvarez was about to have his Most Valuable Player moment. With a huge crowd awaiting July 4 fireworks, Alvarez provided some a few minutes early by launching a two-run walk-off home run to straightaway center field off reliever Casey Lugumina to send Houston to a thrilling 10-8 come-from-behind win, snapping Tampa Bay’s nine-game winning streak. “It was something special,” Alvarez said. “There was no better way than to finish this game than with a home run. Normally, I don’t pay really much attention to the crowd or the bleachers, but it was really cool, the people chanting 'MVP.'” View this post on Instagram