Braves Sweep Astros, Clinch NL East As Alvarez Calls Meeting

On the other side of the diamond, the mood was a lot heavier. Typically stoic slugger Yordan Alvarez broke character and spoke up in a players-only meeting after what one Astros beat writer described as three straight "slaps in the face" from Atlanta.

Brian McTaggart @brianmctaggart · Yordan Alvarez spoke a team meeting today after getting three “slaps in the face” from the Braves.

It's a notable moment for a guy who doesn't say much. Alvarez has been Houston's best hitter all year — a.313 average, 40 homers, 99 RBIs and a 1.027 OPS by season's end, according to MLB.com — and when a player with that kind of standing calls a meeting, the room listens.

Brian McTaggart @brianmctaggart · Typically stoic slugger Yordan Alvarez spoke up at a team meeting Sunday following the Astros getting "three slaps in the face" by the Braves. Why he did it, what was said and how it was received in the clubhouse. "When he speaks, there’s a presence." t.co/tARIqozYEn

The sweep leaves the Astros a game back of the Rangers for the AL wild card picture with six games to play, so Alvarez's message has an immediate deadline attached to it. Atlanta, by contrast, gets to exhale — a 92-64 club that missed the playoffs entirely last year at 76-86 and has now won 90-plus games for the fifth time in the last eight seasons under Weiss. The road to October runs through Atlanta first, and Houston just got a preview of why.