Kevin Kiermaier

Kiermaier (back) is starting in center field and batting ninth in Saturday's game against the Yankees.

Kiermaier was scratched from Friday's lineup against the Yankees due to lower-back tightness.

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt has nothing but praise for Yordan Alvarez after the Houston Astros slugger hit two home runs during his team's 8-0 win on Wednesday."He's one of the best hitters in baseball. That's what makes it challenging," Bassitt said about Alvarez, according to The Athletic's Kaitlyn McGrath. The latter entered the game with four homers against the Blue Jays hurler before taking him deep in the third inning."He doesn't really have a weakness other than a four-seam (fastball) up. And I don't even consider that a weakness, but I don't have a four-seamer, so it's tough."Three of Alvarez's four hits on Wednesday came against Bassitt, who laughed with the slugger during a fourth-inning exchange. Chris Bassitt to Yordan Alvarez: "You're fucking killing me, man"Yordan is 8-for-18 with 5 HR in his career against Bassitt pic.twitter.com/NeYVp3gMuX Talkin Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 4, 2024 "I wasn't trying to run into him there, he was trying to run into me," Alvarez joked after the game, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome. "Basically what he asked me is, 'How do I get you out?' And I don't know."Alvarez continued to dominate Blue Jays pitching after Bassitt departed in the fifth inning. He took lefty reliever Tim Mayza deep in the sixth before narrowly missing his third homer of the game. In the seventh, his 404-foot flyball was caught by Kevin Kiermaier on the center-field warning track. It would have marked a home run in 18 of the 30 major-league parks, according to Statcast.Alvarez entered Wednesday's contest in the midst of a 3-for-24 slump, but credited switching back to last season's bats for his turnaround game. "It was a matter of time, but any time he can put some good swings like that and hit some balls hard, it's a good sign," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "That's exactly what we needed, especially doing it with people on base. I think it's contagious. It spread throughout the lineup the whole entire night."Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.