Overview

• The Astros activated Alvarez on Tuesday after roughly 100 missed games, and he went 0-for-2 with two walks in a 6-1 loss to the Rockies.
• The slugger was out with a fractured right hand that prompted repeated imaging and a cautious, stop-start rehab process.
• Alvarez said he never expected the recovery to take so long and declined to say he is fully healthy.
• Manager Joe Espada called the return "huge" as Houston, which kept winning without him, holds about a 1.5-game lead in the AL West.
• Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said Germán Márquez will rejoin the rotation after the road trip, moving Antonio Senzatela to long relief.