Justin Verlander had just wrapped up another strong start and was in the dugout in the fifth inning when Yordan Alvarez launched his third monster home run of the night for the Astros.

"It's pretty cool when a major league player can make other major league players be in awe," Verlander said. "It's not something that happens all too often. And that was kind of one of those moments where everybody is just like: 'My goodness.' It's just incredible what he's able to do."

Alvarez homered in his first three at-bats, Verlander threw five hitless innings in his return from the injured list and the Astros clinched a postseason berth with a 5-0 win over the Athletics on Friday night.