JUDGE 1-UPPED
Altuve the real MVP with ALCS opener win
HOUSTON – There were plenty of “M-V-P!” chants on Friday night at Minute Maid Park. They just happened to be for the guy wearing orange. Sure, Jose Altuve may have said he’d pick Aaron Judge to win AL MVP if he had a vote.
But it was the Astros’ 5-foot, 6-inch dynamo who was the most impactful position player on the field in Game 1 of the ALCS.
In the fourth inning alone, Altuve created his team’s first run with his speed, and stole a hit from Didi Gregorius with his glove at second base.
“He’s showing people why he’s an MVP,” Judge said postgame after removing ice wraps from his left shoulder and right knee. “What he did (Friday), getting on base, stealing bases, making great plays on defense. He was doing it all.”
Altuve finished 3-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Houston’s 2-1 victory over the Yankees.
“Probably him, Judge,” Altuve said before the game when asked to cast his AL MVP ballot. “Because he hit a lot of homers, a lot of RBIs, got on base a lot, and I like the way he plays. If I was a GM, I’d want him on my team because he plays the game the right way and he’s very humble.
“Maybe in another life I want to be Aaron Judge and hit all those homers,” Altuve added, touting Judge’s humbleness.
Judge actually did his part for the Bombers, matching his hit total from the entire ALDS on this night — one. But Judge’s single to left off a 3-2 hanging slider from Dallas Keuchel with two on and two outs in the fifth went for naught, as Greg Bird, who underwent ankle surgery in mid-July, was thrown out at home in an ugly display of baserunning. It was actually an Altuve error that gave the Yankees their squandered chance.
“The perfect play,” was how Judge described Marwin Gonzalez’s 97.4 mph throw from left to Brian McCann, who applied the tag.
The 25-year-old rookie Judge, who went 1-for-20 with a postseason-record 16 strikeouts in the ALDS, also was the victim of a massive strike zone in his second at-bat, as a low strike two call in his second at-bat ultimately resulted in another K. “You don’t want to change your approach (because of the zone),” Judge said. “For me, I feel like strikes are balls that I can get the barrel on. But my job is to go up there and hit. It’s not to worry about balls and strikes.”
Judge represented the tying run when he got up for the final time in the eighth, but he grounded out to third against Ken Giles. And Gary Sanchez and Gregorius went a combined 0-for-7 with five strikeouts and a GETTY walk behind the 6-foot-7, 282-pound right fielder. The Bombers didn’t score until Bird homered with two outs in the ninth.
“I just want to make sure I’m hitting the mistakes,” Judge said. “I don’t want to go after his pitch. I don’t want to go down, below the zone or off the plate. I want to try to get a pitch up in the zone I can do damage on, and I felt like I did an all right job (Friday).”
Judge finished 1-for-3 with a walk on the evening. But that paled in comparison with Altuve, who made it happen in the fourth, diving to take a hit away from Gregorius in the top half of the frame and then beating out an infield single, stealing second and scoring on Carlos Correa’s RBI single in the bottom half.
Altuve would later add two more hits to his ledger – bringing his postseason batting average to .579 (11-for19). Even his only out was a rocket to center.
Both Altuve and Judge had incredible regular-season statistics. Altuve won the AL batting title while triple-slashing .346/.410/.547 with 24 homers, 81 RBI and 32 stolen bases for Houston, which won the AL West division title. Judge hit .284 but delivered a higher OPS (1.049) and more RBI (114) while leading the Junior Circuit in homers (52), runs (128), walks (127) and strikeouts (208).
All that being said, both players — who were caught in a photo during the regular season that showed their size disparity — are team-first and care about winning most of all.
And in that all-important category, Jose Altuve leads Aaron Judge 1-0 in the early-going.