Astros lose second in a row as D-Backs win on walk-off double.
Second baseman is showing signs of breaking slump
PHOENIX — Jose Altuve arrived three weeks late, a reminder that even one of this sport’s best hitters is human. The first three weeks of his season were an ugly slump. Hitters around the league are struggling after a truncated series of summer camp workouts; Altuve is not immune. He awoke Thursday with three hits in his last 34 plate appearances. A firstinning strikeout only prolonged his misery.
Dusty Baker didn’t feel an urge to interfere. George Springer sat for a game last week when mired in a similar malaise. Baker resisted the urge to act similarly with Altuve, the heartbeat of Houston’s order.
Concern for Altuve existed — Baker lamented how late he appeared on some hittable fastballs — but never to a level that required drastic action. Altuve is no stranger to slumps, but his emergence always is a spectacle.
In one way or another, Altuve manufactured all four of the Astros’ runs during Thursday’s 5-4
loss to the Diamondbacks. The first occurred with bold fourth-inning baserunning. Another arrived with more authority, the sort of swing that suggests he’s emerging from a dreadful start to his season.
And in the eighth, Altuve extended an inning with a wellstruck double. It allowed Alex Bregman to grab a bat in the situation he most covets.
Bregman struck a go-ahead two-run home run against Arizona reliever Stefan Crichton.
Altuve finished the game 3 for 4. He entered it 3 for his previous 34 and with a .146 batting average. He hammered Zac Gallen’s hanging curveball in the sixth inning for a solo home run — one that landed 404 feet away in the leftfield seats.
His eighth-inning double was a missile, too, leaving the bat at 104.3 mph. Crichton tried to pound him inside with a sinker, and Altuve pulled it down the third-base line.
“I felt, obviously, pretty good,” Altuve said. “Before today’s game, I felt a little early, sometimes late. Hopefully after today’s game I can keep it going and keep helping my team.”
To reignite himself, Altuve willed a first-pitch single through the right side in the third inning. Teammates cheered from the dugout, but Gallen went to work.
During the next at-bat against Bregman, Gallen threw to first base 11 times. Altuve’s threat as an aggressive baserunner has emerged early this season, especially while the offense struggled with runners in scoring position. Gallen did not want to chance it.
The starter struck out Bregman but seemed preoccupied with Altuve — for good reason. Altuve stole second base on the first pitch of Michael Brantley’s plate appearance.
“He picked so many times that I knew he would give up at some time,” Altuve said. “He gave me the high leg kick and I was able to steal the base.”
Brantley moved him to third with a grounder to the right side. He scored when Yuli Gurriel’s ground ball bounced off the third base bag — one Altuve wouldn’t have occupied without his havoc.
“It was great to see him get in on the hit parade,” Baker said. “He looked like the Altuve of old.”