The look of an MVP
Altuve’s 4 hits key sweep, lift average to .357
ANAHEIM, Calif. — As Jose Altuve strolled to the batter’s box Wednesday afternoon, one of the announced 36,683 at Angel Stadium started a one-man chant. “MVP!” the fan bellowed throughout Altuve’s second atbat, and the Astros’ second baseman appeased him with a runscoring triple.
The chant resumed two innings later, when Altuve roped a double to left-center field, and again for his final two plate appearances. No one could concoct a rebuttal on this day or most others through 12 weeks of this season. If Most Valuable Player Awards were decided after June, Altuve would have arguably the best case in the American League.
Four more hits, two for extra bases, in the Astros’ sweep-clinching 10-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels raised Altuve’s major league-leading batting average to .357. His 1.004 OPS is surpassed by only David Ortiz and Matt Carpenter. Altuve hit for a blistering .420 average in June.
The soon-to-be fourtime All-Star was at the center of the action from the outset of the Astros’ 12th win in 14 games and eighth consecutive victory over the AL West doormats. He scored a seasonhigh four runs.
“I mean, there’s nothing really else to say about him. He’s the best player in the league,” said lefthander Dallas Keuchel, the AL’s reigning Cy Young Award winner. “Mike Trout is a very good player and potentially could win the MVP every year. But this guy in our clubhouse is to me the best player in the league this year.”
Altuve almost didn’t play Wednesday.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch, committed to giving his star a day off before the looming All-Star break, told him Tuesday night that Wednesday would be the day. They were set to discuss it further Wednesday morning but didn’t connect before Hinch wrote out his lineup card. So he just left him in. “I didn’t think that was a good idea,” Altuve said, smiling. “Thank God he didn’t give me the day off.”
His production began in the first inning. The diminutive No. 3 hitter ripped a two-out single to left field off Angels righthander Jered Weaver and swiped second base, his 21st steal in 24 attempts. Carlos Correa plated his double-play partner with a single to right field.
Altuve tripled in the third inning and doubled in the fifth. A hard-hit liner to left field in the sixth proved a rare out. A one-out single to spark the Astros’ three-run ninth capped his fourth four-hit performance of the season.
“There’s not much you can do to get in his way,” Hinch said. “He’s having a pretty remarkable run here.”
Incredibly, Altuve has twice as many multi-hit performances (32) as games without a hit (16). His .572 slugging percentage is .113 points better than his previous career high, set last year. He has reached base in a careerhigh 32 consecutive games.
“I wouldn’t want to face him,” said Keuchel (5-9), the winning pitcher after allowing three runs (two earned) over six innings. “I’m glad he’s on our team.”
The top three hitters in the Astros’ batting order — George Springer, Marwin Gonzalez and Altuve — accounted for seven runs scored. Springer launched a solo home run in the sixth, chasing Weaver from the game. Luis Valbuena, whose hot bat landed him in the No. 5 spot, belted his own off Fernando Salas an inning later.
Eighteen wins in June marked the Astros’ most in the month since 1989. Their eight-game winning streak against the Angels is their best against an opponent since they won 12 consecutive games against both Philadelphia and Cincinnati during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
A 10-game homestand against the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics is all that remains for the Astros before the All-Star break.
“Obviously, when you’ve got good numbers, you feel like you’re doing good,” Altuve said. “I feel proud of myself because I feel like I’m doing everything I can to help my team. It’s all about your team. It’s all about going to the playoffs at the end of the season, and I think we’re going the right way.”