‘So clutch’: Altuve again puts Astros on WS brink
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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Houston Astros are on the verge of reaching the World Series, again, because of Jose Altuve.
Altuve clubbed a three-run homer off Texas Rangers reliever Jose Leclerc in the top of the ninth inning, and after barely holding a lead through the bottom of the ninth, Houston — which had lost the first two games of the American League Championship Series — completed a sweep of three games here Friday night.
Houston needs only to win Game 6 or Game 7 to capture the best-of-seven series and advance to the World Series for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.
“That’s one of the craziest games I ever played in,” Altuve said on the field after the game, and he wasn’t exaggerating. In the last three innings were two lead-changing homers, three ejections (one including Houston manager Dusty Baker), a brief delay as Baker refused to leave the Astros dugout, and a leaping catch in the bottom of the ninth inning by a fielder making his first-ever appearance on defense in a postseason game.
“That was a huge, huge victory,” Baker said. “That will go down in history.”
Added Rangers manager Bruce Bochy: “It’s just a tough one, no getting around it. It’s part of the game and what you have to deal with. And good clubs deal with it in the right way, and these guys, they’ll put this behind them.”
It had appeared the Rangers would win this emotional game, after coming back against a future Hall of Famer. The Astros took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, and with ace Justin Verlander on the mound and the best Houston relievers fully rested, they were well-positioned to close out the game. But that lead evaporated in the span of three pitches: Corey Seager doubled, Evan Carter singled and Adolis Garcia attacked a fastball, blasting a three-run homer so far that Garcia stood at home plate to admire his work, before slowly moving up the first base line and slamming his bat in celebration.
Verlander bent over at the waist, stunned, and after the half-inning ended, he greeted catcher Martin Maldonado with a look of self-loathing and a sweep of his hand, imitating how his fastball had errantly cut inside when he meant for it to go outside.
The Rangers’ lead was still 4-2 when Garcia came to the plate in the eighth inning; following a Carter walk, Bryan Abreu hit Garcia with a pitch; Garcia immediately turned and confronted Maldonado. According to Maldonado, Garcia said to him, “Why like that?”
“Like what?” Maldonado responded. Both benches emptied, with the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez and others trying to hold Garcia. The umpires met and decided to eject Garcia and Abreu, and when Baker heard the news, he threw his hat, screaming incredulously, and he, too, was ejected. Briefly, Baker refused to leave the Houston bench. Crew chief James Hoye turned to home plate umpire Marvin Hudson and said, “He won’t leave.”
Baker did finally leave, after his hat was retrieved for him, and it was his bench coach, Joe Espada, who officially inserted two pinch-hitters, with both waiting near the on-deck circle as Leclerc warmed up for the ninth.
Leclerc had entered the game in the top of the eighth inning, to get one out. And he had to wait through the Garcia incident, through the umpires’ meeting, through Baker’s ejection and dugout sit-in. A lot of time had passed before Leclerc went out to throw the ninth, and later, Bochy spoke with frustration about how long it took to get action resumed.
“I was concerned about that delay,” Bochy said. “I really was. It was a long one. It was taking too long, to be honest. The whole thing is a bunch of crap, to be honest, what happened there. Who knows what intentions are, but it’s not the first time it’s happened, and couldn’t get the game going again.”
Leclerc said later, “I’m not used to waiting around that long to pitch again, but it’s no excuse. I needed to execute my pitches and do a better job.”
Maldonado suggested after the game that perhaps the Astros had been alighted by the eighth-inning scrum. As Diaz and Singleton prepared to hit in the top of the ninth inning, Altuve grabbed an iPad to watch video of his previous plate appearances against Leclerc, just a reminder of Leclerc’s delivery, how he released the ball, how he had pitched him in the past. In Altuve’s 101st postseason game, there was no need for conversation, any prep.
But Diaz singled and then Singleton, batting for the first time in almost three weeks, calmly waited through six pitches, never swinging and taking a walk. Altuve watched this and said later that the composed plate appearances by the two bench players really helped to calm him, to settle him.
Before the game, Astros third baseman Alex Bregman had marveled at Altuve’s strength, and his standing on some of the all-time postseason leaderships. In the team’s testing, Altuve has the highest jump, the highest pound-for-pound leg press, and he focuses in the offseason on maintaining his core, partly through disciplined eating habits. Bregman confessed that he enjoys soda. Altuve? Never. Through that ethic, Altuve entered this game with 25 career homers in the postseason, second-most all-time to Manny Ramirez’s 29 in the playoffs and World Series. When it comes to the postseason, 5-foot-6 Jose Altuve has a longstanding habit of attacking anything close to the strike zone.
“He’s got a slow heartbeat, and he loves big moments. Number one, he wants to be up there. Number two, he’s got a high concentration level, because that’s what it takes in big moments like that … I mean, this dude is one of the baddest dudes I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some great.”
Astros manager Dusty Baker on Jose Altuve
With an 0-1 count, Leclerc threw him a changeup that was low and inside, and Altuve swung. Leclerc wasn’t sure if Altuve’s fly to left field would be long enough to clear the fence, because he didn’t think Altuve had hit the ball especially hard. But watching from second base, Diaz felt immediately that Altuve’s drive to left would clear the fence, because of the relaxed way Altuve followed through, which told him: Altuve knew it was gone.
The second baseman bounced around the bases, as the Astros’ dugout erupted in chaotic celebration. When he got back to the dugout, Altuve made eye contact with hitting coach Alex Cintron in the dugout. “Wow,” Cintron said. “You are unbelievable.”
During this postseason, Altuve has made a point of downplaying his own performance, deflecting inquiries about his hits and place in postseason history like a deft hockey goalie. But in the joyous Houston dugout, among the other players, Altuve’s guard dropped in his response to Cintron.
“I’ve got 26 homers for a reason,” Altuve said, a humblebrag reference to his postseason homers. “So clutch,” said Bregman.
“He’s got a slow heartbeat, and he loves big moments.” Baker said, “Number one, he wants to be up there. Number two, he’s got a high concentration level, because that’s what it takes in big moments like that … I mean, this dude is one of the baddest dudes I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some great.”
The Astros had the lead, but in this game, a lead meant nothing. Texas opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, and another single. Marcus Semien smashed a line drive toward shortstop, and Grae Kessinger – who had made his first postseason appearance ever in the top of the ninth inning as a pinch-runner for Singleton and was playing shortstop — leapt into the air and snared the ball.
That was all that was needed to bail out Ryan Pressly, who coaxed Seager into a fly out before striking out rooking Carter, and with that, the Astros collectively exhaled, tumbling out of the dugout. Near second base, Altuve embraced Kessinger, and as all of the Astros came off the field, there was Baker waiting to greet them, hatless, all of them one step closer to becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
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Jorge Castillo
NEW YORK — Juan Soto‘s second Subway Series experience in a Mets uniform was a far cry from his first.
In mid-May, Soto received a three-day onslaught of boos from scorned crowds in his return to Yankee Stadium and looked increasingly uncomfortable as the weekend progressed. On Friday, he felt right at home in the teams’ series opener at Citi Field, receiving a standing ovation from his home crowd before his first at-bat and reciprocating the love with a signature performance against his former team.
The soon-to-be five-time All-Star went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and single, falling just a triple shy of the cycle in the Mets’ 6-5 comeback win over the Yankees to continue his scalding stretch over the past month as the Mets won their third consecutive game and the Yankees lost their fifth straight.
“That was awesome,” said second baseman Jeff McNeil, who slashed a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning. “He had a great day. Huge home run. That’s just who he is. It’s fun to watch and I feel like every time he comes to the plate, he’s going to do something cool.”
The day began with the Mets needing a quick counter after the Yankees took a two-run lead on back-to-back home runs from Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Judge to open the game and put rookie Justin Hagenman on his heels in his first career major league start. Soto, moments after absorbing the warm reception, delivered one, lifting a two-run home run to left-center field for his 21st of the season to tie the score and put Hagenman at ease.
“Juan responded right away, just getting the momentum right back,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That was the setting-the-tone moment. ‘OK, they punch, we’re going to punch back. Here we are.'”
The 26-year-old Soto followed the two-run blast with a 108.6-mph rope of a double to center field in the third inning and a single in the fifth before cracking a 106.8-mph flyout in his final at-bat in the seventh. Two batters later, McNeil, after Pete Alonso walked to extend the inning, drove a changeup from Luke Weaver down the right-field line to give the Mets the lead.
“I just feel good right now,” Soto said. “I’m seeing the ball really well. I feel like I’m trying to take my chances when I swing the bat. I’m trying to do damage every time and try to help the team win some games.”
Much is different from the first time the Mets and Yankees met this season. Both teams have fallen from first place following dreadful stretches stemming from June 12. Both teams are dealing with various injuries to pitchers, the Mets to a greater extent. And Soto, a Yankee last season, has returned to his usual form for his new club.
Soto emerged from that three-game set in the Bronx earlier in the season with a .246 batting average and .822 OPS on the season. The relative struggles continued over the next two weeks, sinking his batting average to .229 and his OPS to .797 through June 5. The relative struggles drew the ire of fans and New York talk radio. The early return on the Mets’ $765 million investment was one of the few blips in the team’s splendid start.
The storyline has since flipped. Since June 6, Soto is hitting .348 with 10 home runs and a 1.185 OPS in 27 games, earning National League Player of the Month honors for June. On the season, his 21 home runs are tied for ninth in the majors and his .916 OPS is seventh. It’s production the Mets expected — and the production the Yankees know all about.
“It’s pretty special,” Mendoza said. “Every time he’s at the plate, you feel good about your chances. And when we got guys that are getting on base and we’re turning the lineup over and getting him at the plate as many times [as possible] when he’s going like that, it’s a pretty special feeling.”
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