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It was only a matter of time before Altuve fully embraced his new role

It was only a matter of time before Altuve fully embraced his new role
Jose Altuve completed the heel turn. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images.

If you've read my stuff here, or follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know I'm a pro wrestling fan. Have been all my life and will continue to be. There are terms they use for good guys and bad guys. Good guys are called babyfaces or a face. Bad guys are called heels. Wrestlers who truly enjoy the craft will mostly claim to like playing a heel because your character can get away with more. They're expected to cheat to win. They also get "heat" with the crowd by insulting them and/or attacking/insulting the face they're going up against. See where I'm going with this?

The Astros have finally embraced their heel turn following the sign stealing scandal. Most guys have not really paid much attention to opposing fans booing them. Some have barked back at opposing players/fans/media, most notably Carlos Correa who took it upon himself to defend the club last season after they swept the Twins in the playoffs. That was a rallying cry that nearly brought them back to another World Series appearance. Jose Altuve has been largely silent when it comes to things. Last season was the worst of his career. It only came out before this season that he was dealing with some personal issues that caused his lull in play. This season started bad for him as well. That is, until a fateful trip to the Bronx to play the hated Yankees.

This was the team's first appearance in the Bronx since fans were allowed back into stadiums. They booed, made signs, held trash cans, and wore t-shirts and costumes. On more than one occasion, a "f*** Altuve" chant broke out. Altuve had enough and hit a game winning three-run homer to shut the crowd up. Ever since, his power numbers have been off the charts. He has 18 homers this season, with 11 of those coming in his last 30 games. His career high for a season of 24 is expected to fall this year if he keeps this up.

He's typically known as the soft-spoken, kind-hearted, quiet leader of the team. Altuve fully embraced the heel turn when he not so subtly waved goodbye to the Cleveland crowd after the team swept a four game series this past weekend, and I love it! I wrote about this before the start of last season because I felt the team might as well lean into being the bad guys if opposing fans/players/media were going to keep crapping on them. While some did, it wasn't until Altuve's wave that I was most proud. It's a simple gesture that players have done in the past. But when it comes from a guy like him, it carries a different type of weight. It also has more meaning since the team is leading the AL West by 4.5 games and are only a half game behind the Red Sox for the best record in the AL at the time of this writing.

This team is loaded with talent. While they've struggled in some areas, the one area they need to improve is the bullpen. The offense currently leads all of MLB in run differential at +137. Of the guys with 100 at-bats or more, they have five guys hitting .280 or more, another two guys just under that mark, and four of them are at .300 or more. I'd love to see them keep this same attitude and make another World Series run. Ideally, I'd love for them to win it all. If forced to settle for a World Series appearance, I guess I'd be okay. Then we could all wave goodbye to the haters.

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The A's beat the Astros, 3-1. Photo by David Berding/Getty Images.

Nick Kurtz homered in the ninth inning for the second straight day and the Athletics beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Monday night.

Brent Rooker drew a leadoff walk against Bryan Abreu (1-3) to open the ninth and reach safely in 12 straight home games. Kurtz followed with his seventh home run of the season 447 feet over the right-field wall.

Kurtz also hit a ninth-inning homer on Sunday to rally the Athletics to a 3-2 win and a three-game sweep at Kansas City.

The Athletics have won four straight games and are now 7-4 over the last 11 after losing 20 of the previous 21.

The Astros had a five-game winning streak snapped after entering winners in 16 of their last 22.

Athletics reliever J.T. Ginn struck out the side in the eighth and Mason Miller (1-2) added two strikeouts in the ninth. Starter Mitch Spence allowed seven hits and one earned run in five innings.

Third baseman Max Muncy made a nice defensive play to end the fifth when he made a backhand stab of a grounder and sent a jump throw from foul territory to get a hustling Jose Altuve at first base.

Houston rookie Ryan Gusto struck out a season-high eight and only allowed one earned run in five innings. He started in place of RHP Lance McCullers Jr., who was placed on the IL.

Altuve homered in the first and JJ Bleday went deep to tie the score 1-1 for the Athletics in the fifth.

Key moment

The Athletics appeared to have runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth following Tyler Soderstrom’s hit. However, an official review showed Jeremy Peña tagged Soderstrom when he came off the bag.

Key stat

Abreu had a string of 16 straight scoreless outings come to an end. Abreu has only allowed runs in three of his 32 appearances.

Up next

Athletics LHP JP Sears (5-5, 5.08) is scheduled to start on Tuesday. The Astros have not named a starter.

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