“It was definitely special” - Yordan Alvarez puts the league on notice with a 444-foot walk-off homer against Kansas City Royals

Yordan Alvarez, or "Air Yordan" as he is affectionately referred to by many Houston Astros fans, continues to impress. On Monday night, Alvarez delivered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals.

"It was definitely special," said Alvarez

The Astros are one of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment and MVP candidate Alvarez is a big reason for their success. The team is on a seven-game win streak, a league-best at the moment. The latest comeback win was extra special for the Cuban star. It was his first walk-off in the majors and caused a frenzy amongst the 33,936 fans in attendance.

"YORDAN ALVAREZ WALK OFF HOME RUN ON FOURTH OF JULY!!" - Ben Verlander

The home run capped off the largest comeback win of the season for the Astros. Jake Odoizzi started poorly for the Astros, giving up nine hits and five earned runs in his first 4 innings. Going into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Astros found themselves trailing 5-0.

Yordan Alvarez is having an MVP-caliber 2022 season

Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros hits a walk-off home run in the ninth inning against the Kansas City

This Houston team, however, has been resiliant all season and never gives up until the last out. A sacrifice fly by Kyle Tucker scored Jeremy Pena in the fourth. Jose Altuve singled in the next inning to score Mauricio Dubon. Three runs in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at 6-6 and gave the Astros new life. Yordan Alvarez stepped up in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback.

"My first walk-off in the Major Leagues, and obviously, being able to pull this one out is very special," added Alvarez

Along with Aaron Judge, Jose Ramirez, and Mike Trout, Alvarez has to be in discussions for the American League MVP. He is currently hitting .310/.410./653 with a 1.063 OPS. He leads the league in slugging and OPS ahead of Mike Trout and Paul Goldschmidt respectively in those categories. Alvarez is currently second in home runs with 24 behind Judge. He is in the top 10 in the league with 57 RBIs.

"Yordan Alvarez hit his 24th HR this season in the Astros 79th game this season, tied for the 4th-most over the team's first 80 games in a season." - ESPN Stats & Info

After back-to-back walk-off wins (Pena also walked off on Sunday), the Astros are now 52-27. They have a commanding 13.5 game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the American League West. They also have a league-best 15-6 record in one-run games.

The Astros look to be a shoo-in for the playoffs and will most likely avoid the wildcard. With Alvarez leading this potent offense, the Astros will be one of the favorites for the American League pennant come October.