Alvarez homers 3 times as Hit Men come from behind

Joey Gallo's two-run homer off Josh Hader in the top of the 7th erased a 5-0 deficit and 6th-seeded Hillsborough held off No. 3 Tucson for a 7-5 win in Game 1 of their 1st round series.

Gallo's homer was the only one of the Hit Men's 6 that came with men on base. 2020 No. 1 overall pick Yordan Alvarez homered three times to keep them in the game: in the 4th following a Keston Hiura solo shot to put Hillsborough on the board, again in the 6th to get the Hit Men within 5-4, and an insurance dong in the 8th to make it a 7-5 lead.

Tucson got to Hillsborough starter Justin Verlander early. Ketel Marte led off the game with a double and Jose Altuve followed with a homer to stake the King Snakes to a 2-0 lead. Verlander was lucky to get out of the 1st without more damage. Hunter Pence singled and stole 2nd, and after Nelson Cruz struck out, Matt Olson reached on an error by 3B Kris Bryant. With runners on the corners, Verlander was able to get Marcell Ozuna to ground into an inning-ending double play before any more damage was done.

Tucson struck again in the 3rd. Olson drew a two-out walk and Ozuna singled to shallow left before Altuve launched his 2nd homer of the game, expanding the King Snakes' lead to 5-0.

The 7th inning is where the game was won. Scott Oberg relieved Paddack to start the 7th but only lasted a couple of batters. A one-out double by Bryant brought Hader on to face Gallo, who immediately homered to give Hillsborough its first lead, 6-5, deflating the Tucson crowd.

In the bottom of the 7th, Marte led off with a triple against Verlander. With the tying run 90 feet from home, Hillsborough called on Julio Urias. The lefty came through: Semien lined out to 2nd, Pence struck out, and Cruz grounded out to 2nd.

After Alvarez's 3rd homer in the top of the 9th, Tucson threatened one last time in the bottom of the inning. Urias got through two pinch-hitters - Edwin Encarnacion and Cheslor Cuthbert - before yielding a triple of his own to Altuve. At that point, the Hit Men called on Archie Bradley, who struck out Nolan Arenado to escape the inning.

Bradley (S, 1) would go on to register the save, yielding just a 9th-inning single while strikout out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. Verlander (1-0) struck out 7 and walked 2, with 67 of his 103 pitches (.605) for strikes. He got the win despite an iffy start: 5 runs on 8 hits over 6 innings.

Paddack also went 6, allowing 4 runs and 4 hits while striking out 7 and walking 1. Of his 94 pitches, 58 went for strikes (.617). Hader (0-1) took the loss and blew the save, despite 6 strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.

Hillsborough scored 7 runs on 7 hits and left only 1 man on. Tucson had 5 runs on 10 hits and stranded 7. Marte finished with 3 hits for Tucson, falling a homer short of the cycle. Altuve led the King Snakes with 3 RBI on a HR and triple. In addition to Alvarez's 3 solo shots, Bryant had 2 hits, including a HR, but not one had a bigger hit than Gallo.