Error of their ways
Altuve’s miscue, lack of clutch hitting put Houston in a hole
AstrosSAN DIEGO — Ji-Man Choi chopped a curveball into shallow right field and straight into the Astros’ defensive shift, setting up a routine play as suitable for spring training as an American League Championship Series. October is defined by premier plays, but a championship team must first master the simple.
Jose Altuve awaited the baseball. He gathered it into his glove. What happened during the next few seconds teeters on inexplicable. One of the sport’s most sure-handed second basemen broke down, delivering another searing image of his awful 2020. Altuve sank to his knees and stared at the dirt. He rubbed his forehead in disbelief. His manager mentioned the “yips” after the game, one in which Altuve committed the first two throwing errors of his season.
Chances come and go in October. Teams that take advantage are rewarded. The Astros are doing almost everything right, but that assures almost nothing in October. They seem one swing from a breakout but are beset by brief, fundamental mistakes. A leadoff walk Sunday led to the Rays’ go-ahead run in Game 1.
Altuve committed an inexcusable error in Monday’s Game 2, putting the Astros in a bind few teams overcome. The misplay opened the door for Tampa Bay to take control. The Rays kicked it in.
Tampa Bay scored three unearned runs after Altuve’s first-inning gaffe. The Rays won 4-2, taking a commanding two-game lead in the ALCS. Teams that secured the first
two games of a seven-game series have won 72 times in 85 chances.
“I don’t think the guys in the clubhouse feel this series is over. We’ve just got to come out and get one tomorrow,” starter Lance McCullers Jr. said.
Altuve does not bear sole responsibility for Monday’s outcome. The offense stranded 11 more baserunners. Eight at-bats with runners in scoring position produced one hit but no RBIs. The Astros loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth and mustered one run. To end it, Alex Bregman lined a missile to right-center field. Manager Dusty Baker presumed it would get to the gap. It landed in Kevin Kiermaier’s glove, leaving the bases loaded.
“It’s nothing that we did wrong. We just didn’t find a hole,” Baker said.
In two games, Houston has outhit the Rays 19-10 and taken 16 atbats with runners in scoring position. Neither of Tampa’s two starters has pitched into the sixth inning. Seven Astros reached in five frames against Charlie Morton on Monday. Five touched scoring position. All were stranded.
“They got away two days in a row, but they can’t keep getting away,” Baker said.
Statcast classifies balls in play with an exit velocity of 95 mphand higher as “hard hit.” The Astros have hit 25 in two games, including Bregman’s ninth-inning liner against closer Nick Anderson. Only nine have fallen for hits.
“When you’re hitting the ball hard and not getting results, this is the one game you can do every
thing right and not have any success,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “It’s a tough game. We know that. At the same time, you have to give credit to their defense.”
The Rays are built on the margins. Their payroll is the sport’s third lowest. Morton is their highest-paid player. Their offense is void of household names, strikeout-prone and, at best, average. Tampa knows this. To compensate, a premium is placed on pitching and defense.
The Rays’ defense had a major league-best 16.8 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. Monday, it conducted a clinic. At first base, Choi contorted into a full split to save three throws and steal hits.
Willy Adames stole a second-inning single from Correa with a leaping catch. Joey Wendle made a diving stop on Altuve’s grounder to start the fifth. Right fielder Manuel Margot made an incredible catch on a George Springer fly in foul territory to end the second, toppling over the wall and crashing into the concrete below. The snag stranded two more runners in scoring position.
“Their defense is winning ballgames for them right now,” Correa said. “But at the same time, we have to keep putting great at-bats together as a team. We’re not chasing as much. We’re putting the ball in play hard. Usually good things happen when you do that, but it’s not happening right now.”
The absence of clutch hitting has wasted two terrific starts. Framber Valdez spun seven stellar innings in a Game1 loss. McCullers was magnificent for seven more Monday, delivering the most dominant start of his 2020 comeback season.
McCullers struck out 11 Rays and required 100 pitches. He afforded the Astros length they sorely needed and kept the game within striking distance after Altuve’s error.
“That’s the kind of game you have to win,” Correa said, “when your pitcher gives you a performance like that.”
McCullers yielded only four hits. Randy Arozarena struck a first-inning single, sending Choi to the plate. Choi sent a grounder toward Altuve.
Altuve stood up and skipped a throw to first baseman Yuli Gurriel. The baseball clanked in the dirt but still was near Gurriel’s massive mitt. Gurriel is renowned around the team for his scoop style, an uncanny way to dig every bad throw from the dirt. Here, his effort was futile. Inexcusably, Choi was aboard.
Two pitches later, Margot mashed a well-placed curveball over the center-field wall.
“I wish we were talking about something different,” McCullers said. “(Altuve) is a hell of a player, and I think he understands how much we support him. He just needs to come back tomorrow and lead this team like he always has.”