Here's more evidence that the tide is turning on perception of Astros' Jose Altuve
THEY FINALLY SEE THE LIGHT
21 February 2024
Baseball season is right around the corner and the Astros are preparing to make another run at a World Series title in 2024. This Saturday, Ronel Blanco will start the Astros first game of spring training against the Washington Nationals.
Jose Altuve made big news recently when he signed a 5-year $125 million extension with Houston, basically making him an Astro for life.
That piece of news seemed to play a role in the making of this video about Jose Altuve and the unjustified amount of hate he has received from the scandal in 2017.
This certainly isn't breaking news for any Astros fan, but it's nice to see outlets that aren't Houston branded pumping the brakes on the criticism he's received over the last several years.
iTalk Studios is a YouTube channel with 146K subscribers, and they put together this video to outline what actually took place in 2017 and highlight how Altuve took the brunt of the blowback from the scandal. Even though he wasn't a willing participant.
We found it refreshing to hear talking points that Houston fans have been saying for years. The video discusses the evidence from Signstealing.com, how winning the MVP over Aaron Judge factored into the hate, and the nonsense buzzer conspiracy that still has Yankee fans chanting “F-Altuve” even when the Astros aren't in town.
The video above is not perfect, there's no mention of the Yankees and Red Sox cheating. And even Justin Verlander catches some criticism, along with Carlos Correa, George Springer, and Alex Bregman. But overall, it's nice to see Houston fans aren't the only ones that realize Jose Altuve didn't deserve to be the face of the scandal.
José Soriano and two relievers combined for a two-hitter and Oswald Peraza hit his first home run since a trade from the Yankees to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Soriano (10-9) allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. Luis García allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 25th save.
There were two outs in the fifth when Peraza connected off Hunter Brown (10-7) into the bullpen in right-center field to put the Angels up 1-0. His homer comes after his two-run single in the ninth inning Saturday helped Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory that snapped a three-game skid.
Yoan Moncada walked to start the eighth and scored on Mike Trout’s double that bounced off the wall in center field to make it 2-0. Taylor Ward walked before Luis Rengifo reached and Trout scored on an error by Lance McCullers Jr. when the pitcher overthrew first base.
Yordan Alvarez singled with no outs in the first and Soriano walked a batter in the second and sixth innings. The Astros didn’t get another hit until Ramón Urías doubled with one out in the eighth inning. Los Angeles outfielder Taylor Ward was injured trying to make a catch on that hit when he crashed face-first into the metal scoreboard in left field.
He was carted off the field holding a towel to the right side of his face. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance where interim manager Ray Montgomery said he would receive stitches to close the cut and be evaluated.
Brown allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings. McCullers Jr. allowed three hits and two runs in his first relief appearance since 2018.
Key moment
The home run by Peraza.
Key stat
It’s the fifth time the Astros have been shut out this month.
Up next
LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 3.68 ERA) will start for Los Angeles in the series finale Monday against RHP Luis Garcia, who’ll make his return after sitting out since May 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
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