Stepping in for injured Alvarez, rookie Cole comes up clutch -- twice

HOUSTON -- Four games into his Major League career, Zach Cole has become a master of the pick-me-up.

After entering Monday night’s game in place of the injured Yordan Alvarez, Cole hit a go-ahead two-run homer and added an RBI single as the Astros defeated the Rangers, 6-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Daikin Park.

The win, which came in Houston’s first of six home games this week against AL West contenders, moved Houston within a half-game of division leader Seattle. It also put the Astros three games up on the Rangers and the Guardians, who are the teams closest to them in their present position as the American League’s No. 3 Wild Card.

Cole, whose MLB debut on Friday included a home run and two other hits in a victory at Atlanta, entered Monday’s game after Alvarez sprained his left ankle while scoring a first-inning run. In his second at-bat against Rangers starter Jack Leiter, Cole hit a two-out, fifth-inning blast to right field to put the Astros up, 4-3.

“That was a fastball well-executed,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of the pitch Cole hammered. “Leiter put that pitch where he wanted to, and this kid just put an ‘A’ swing on it. He continues to do things that show he’s well prepared. The stage is not fazing him. And I’ve got to give him credit, because we’re in the middle of a race, and this kid is showing up.”

Cole fouled off three two-strike pitches -- two changeups and a slider -- before getting a 95.9 mph four-seamer from Leiter, whom he never faced in the Minors.

“Just trying to be competitive,” Cole said. “That guy’s really good. He’s got a lot of good pitches. Just trying to do my best to foul off anything close just to get another pitch.”

Espada admitted the Astros’ dugout was initially subdued as Alvarez gingerly made his way through it after hurting himself in the bottom of the first.

“Silence in the dugout,” the manager said after the game. “What I do have to say is that once he went to the tunnel, you could hear the guys saying, ‘Let’s go. We’ve got to pick him up.’ And that was very encouraging – how the players recognized that we’re in the middle of a fight. One of our big boys just went down, but instead of using that as. ‘Here we go. Another injury,’ they went, ‘Somebody needs to pick him up.’ I thought that was a big moment.

“And then Zach Cole goes out there and goes off. That’s good managing not putting that guy in the lineup, huh? He’s playing [Tuesday].”

Espada made what turned out to be another deft move by inserting Cole in right field and shifting Jesús Sánchez from right to left. It paid off big when Sánchez prevented the Rangers from tying the game by throwing out Jonah Heim at home plate to end the Texas seventh. Heim was trying to score from second on a single by Wyatt Langford.

“It’s the familiarity of this ballpark for Sánchez,” Espada said. “He’s played here. Cole has played more right field in the Minor Leagues, so I just wanted to take the [left-field] wall element out of there.”

Cole came through again in the seventh. After Jeremy Peña’s RBI double off Leiter made it 5-3, Cole drove Peña home with a single off Jacob Webb. That made Cole 6-for-13 (.462) in the Majors, with an early-career OPS of 1.456.

“Looks like he’s the greatest player in the world,” said Peña, who contributed two hits and three runs. “Should have called him up sooner.”

When he returned to right field for the eighth inning, Cole drew a huge ovation to make his Daikin debut even more memorable.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Cole, who was selected by the Astros in the 10th round of the 2022 Draft. “Obviously, my first game out there, kind of a new face. They were very warm and welcoming. They were great.”

The 25-year-old admitted his first four days of Major League service were quite the whirlwind.

“An unreal experience,” Cole said. “It’s been a rush. It’s been a lot of here-and-there, a lot of sleepless nights, and losing some weight ‘cause I can’t eat too much. I have so much adrenaline.”