ABOUT-FACE ON ALTUVE
Members of the national media changing their tune on Astros' Jose Altuve
Sep 30, 2022, 12:13 pm
Are non-Houstonians willing to admit that Houston Astros 2B Jose Altuve is a great player?
Jose Altuve dealt with a lot of shrapnel in the wake of the Astros sign stealing scandal. Especially after being wrongfully accused of wearing a buzzer underneath his jersey by a prominent Yankees fan on Twitter.
It's unfortunate. Because if we're to believe his teammates, he didn't partake in the scandal. National baseball media didn't really do any digging on the matter. It played out. And after Altuve struggled during a pandemic shortened 2020 season, many felt his career production had an asterisk next to it.
But Altuve has crushed it the past two seasons, and especially this year. It led to a complimentary tweet from ESPN's Buster Olney that listed his accomplishments... and upset some Astros fans.
Jose Altuve .298/.387/.531 slash line this season, with 28 homers, 18 steals/19 attempts, 100 runs.
For his career:
1,929 hits
983 runs
192 homers
279 steals
.307 lifetime average
Three batting titles
Led the AL in hits four times
Five Silver Sluggers
Picked for eight AS teams
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) September 28, 2022
Check out the video above to find out why.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.