Yordan Alvarez hits 3-run walk-off HR as Astros win Game 1

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Yordan Alvarez hit a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth to give the Houston Astros an 8-7 victory over the SeattleMariners.

The Astros took the lead at the end of the game after a poor start by Verlander, and went on to win the game.

David Hensley, a pinch-hitter, reached with one out in the ninth as Seattle's Paul Sewald grazed his jersey.

Sewald struck out Jose Altuve before Jeremy Pea hit the ground to chase him.

Scott Servais made a bold move to bring in Ray, who started Saturday at Toronto in the American League Wild Card Series, for a lefty vs. lefty match up. Ray, who won the Cy Young last year with Toronto, had never earned a pro save in his career.

A wild celebration took place with his parents in the stands after he hit his 37th home run of the season.

It's one of the most special moments that I've had in my career. One of the most special moments in his career was when he was able to get that hit for the city of Houston.

His walk-off home run was the second walk-off home run by a team down to its last out in the playoffs. Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a victory over the Oakland A's in the 1988 World Series.

The home run's exit speed was the fourth-fastest in the Statcast era and the highest ever in the playoffs.

The decision to use Ray was something they had considered.

"It was something going into the series where we were at, looking at our rotation, where we were going to head, and talking withRobbie about using him out of the bullpen as a bullet, so to speak,'' he said. Although Alvarez is one of the better hitters in the league, you bring in a lefty to face him.

Coming into the series, we discussed it. Before today, we talked about it. I looked at it in the seventh and thought it was possible. The plan was to go in.

The skipper of the Astros refused to second-guess his former player.

If he is able to get him out, it will look great.

In the fourth, Yuli Gurriel hit a home run, and in the seventh, Eugenio Suarez hit a home run.

Alex Bregman hit a two-run home run in the eighth to make it a one-run game.

The AP contributed.