Jose Altuve found himself in a similar position to Bryce Harper after the Houston Astros lost Game 1 of the ALCS to the Texas Rangers 2-0 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on Sunday night.
Altuve walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth for the Astros with his team down 2-0. It was just the start to an inning the Astros needed as they were down to their last six outs. Alex Bregman followed by belting a ball to deep left-center, but the ball went to the deep part of the field, right of the Crawford Boxes.
Evan Carter made the catch in left-center and threw in to second base. Though Altuve had made it back to first safely, the Rangers’ astute middle infielders noticed something else: Altuve didn’t appear to touch second base on his way back to first. They appealed to the umpires, who called out Altuve after a review.
After review, Jose Altuve was ruled out after not retouching second base
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/BjDiLY8jTZ
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 16, 2023
Is anybody else's stomach in their throat?
Alex Bregman gives one a ride but Evan Carter saves the day with a leaping grab. Jose Altuve is doubled off at second upon review. Phew.
Rangers still up 2-0. #GoAndTakeIt
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— SportsDay Rangers (@dmn_rangers) October 16, 2023
Rather than still having a runner on first with one out, that went down as a double play. Yordan Alvarez followed by grounding out to end the inning.
The Astros went from thinking they might have had a tying 2-run home run, or at least one run in on an extra-base hit, to seeing a double play. That was just how the night went for them.
Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras drove in runs for Texas, who got 6.1 scoreless innings from Jordan Montgomery, and a nearly flawless 2.2 innings from their bullpen. The Rangers lead the series 1-0.
As for the Bryce Harper reference, that has to do with a similar mistake the Phillies star made in Game 2 of the NLDS.
