Much like conversations between Plato and Aristotle or Socrates, Chris Bassitt and Yordan Alvarez have a particular affinity for getting deep.
In the third inning of the game between the Astros and Blue Jays, the Houston slugger took control of their conversation once again, hammering Bassitt with a towering 441-foot solo-shot to right-centre field.
Alvarez had been in a slump to start the year, entering Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays with a .125 batting average and without a home run. A particular head-to-head might have been just what the doctor ordered to get him his power back.
Perhaps his favourite matchup in the majors, Alvarez has made nasty work of the Blue Jays righty, taking him deep on five occasions, the most he's got against any pitcher. The same goes for Bassitt, as his five round-trippers to Alvarez are the most he's given up to any hitter in MLB.
As a whole, 'Air Yordan' is 8-for-18 for a .444 average against Bassitt with five home runs and 12 RBIs against four strikeouts.
"He's one of the best hitters in baseball, that's what makes it challenging," Bassitt said about Alvarez after the game. "He doesn't really have a weakness other than a four-seam up, and I don't even really consider that a weakness since I don't have a four-seam. So, it's tough."
They've gone head-to-head since Bassitt's time on the Oakland Athletics when the two played against one another more frequently in the AL West. The righty hurler likely looks back on the early days of that matchup more favourably, having won his first five matchups against Alvarez when he was still a rookie.
However, with age, the Cuban's eye for Bassitt's offerings has become more trained as he took him deep twice in five at-bats in 2021.
In their third matchup of the night, after hitting a single and the all-too-familiar home run in their first two duels, Alvarez worked a full count and then slapped a double off the wall in the right-field corner, scoring Jose Altuve and helping his team to a 2-0 lead.
Like clockwork for the superstar slugger.
He would then double up in the sixth inning, taking lefty reliever Tim Mayza deep for his second solo shot of the game. Maybe it's not just Bassitt...
Luckily for Bassitt and the Blue Jays, this will be the last time he has to face his arch-nemesis this season unless they're destined to meet in October.
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