Yordan Alvarez hits for cycle, Astros take two out of three at Mariners

Yordan Alvarez hit for the cycle Sunday afternoon but it was not enough to lift the Astros over the Seattle Mariners to complete the series sweep.

The Astros, at least for a night, had taken sole possession of the American League West lead from the Mariners by beating them on Friday and Saturday.

But Sunday's 6-4 loss, despite Alvarez' brilliance, evened the division standings once again.

Houston is 52-47 going into Monday's action at the Oakland Athletics. Seattle is 53-48 when it hosts the Los Angeles Angels.

It was a shame to waste the Alvarez performance, but the Astros are still in good shape for the second half of the season. They have a +36 run differential advantage over the Mariners and the higher expected win/loss record, which tends to be an indicator of the better team.