Astros rookie Alvarez sets record with 35th RBI

Houston Astros rookie slugger Yordan Alvarez homered and knocked in a pair of runs Monday in an 11-1 win over theOakland A's, making him the first player to have 35 RBIs in his first 30 career games since runs batted in became an official statistic in 1920.

Alvarez, 22, passed Albert Pujols, who had 34 RBIs in his first 30 games with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001.

"I was very happy and very grateful [about the record], something I just found out about when I got here to the clubhouse," Alvarez said through an interpreter.

"Especially with [Pujols], it's an honor and a privilege. When we were in Anaheim, I spoke with him, and he gave me a lot of advice, a lot of information to help me out."

The left-handed slugger from Cuba is hitting .342 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs since he made his major league debut with the Astros on June 9. At the time, he was tearing up the Pacific Coast League, with 23 home runs and 71 RBIs in 56 games.

Astros general managerJeff Luhnow took to Twitter to laud Alvarez.

Alvarez was one of three Cuban-born Astros players -- along with Yuli Gurriel and Aledmys Diaz -- to homer in the 11-1 trouncing of the A's on Monday. That had happened only once before in MLB history, when Jose Abreu, Alexei Ramírez and Dayan Viciedo all homered for the White Sox in 2014.