Yordan Alvarez's 117 MPH homer over the A's leaves Dusty Baker dazzled: "That was a monster shot"

Yordan Alvarez's three-run shot helped the Houston Astros avoid a humiliating series sweep at the hands of the last-placed Oakland Athletics. The Astros won 6-2 in the series finale also thanks to some pretty solid pitching on the mound.

Yordan Alvarez hit a 422 feet dinger to right field to pull his team ahead as in the third innings. His home run also scored Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena who were walked by Paul Blackburn after the first out.

His home run recorded 117 MPH exit velocity which was his career's and any Astros player's hardest-hit homer since Statcast started recording since 2015. After him, Alex Bregman went back-to-back for a solo shot of his own as the Astros went 4-0 in the lead.

Manager Dusty Brown was pleased with his team's efforts. He specifically took note of Yordan Alvarez's contribution and hoped to continue the form on the road:

“We got some runs early, which we hadn’t been getting against the A’s because they’ve been dealing on us,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Yeah, that was big. That was a monster shot [by Alvarez].

"It was huge. We needed this victory tonight badly before we go on the road [to face Kansas City]. We’ve got a day off tomorrow. It was a good night.”

Yordan Alvarez commends Astros pitching staff's work

The Astros batting lineup supported a strong start by rookie Hunter Brown who was 1-3 in his last four starts with a 9.56 ERA. Brown went five no-hit innings which was ably carried forward by the bullpen before Ryan Noda's no-out single in the ninth ended the effort.

Speaking of their effort, Alvarez congratulated them in the post-game interview stressing the importance of avoiding the sweep:

“Obviously, that was huge for us,” the 26-year-old said. “It was one of those things we couldn’t allow a sweep here at home after losing those first two games, so all the focus was on this game. The pitching staff did a great job.”

The Cuban has been immense for Houston this season, batting at .298 with 88 RBIs and 27 home runs.