Jose Altuve Crushed by Uncharacteristic Errors and Dusty Baker’s Hug Can’t Help the Astros Against the No Hate Rays

Dusty Baker is not the only one with the Houston Astros who likely feels like hugging Jose Altuve, but the manager is the only who actually does it. Baker hugging Altuve as he comes off the field is likely to be the enduring image of these dogged, determined 2020 Astros’ downfall, if Houston cannot rally from a 0-2 deficit to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Altuve’s been the heart, soul and driving force of these championship Astros since they first returned to the playoffs in 2015. But on a sunny day in San Diego, in his fourth straight American League Championship Series, Altuve’s sure glove falters for a moment. Altuve’s low, off-target throw to first baseman Yuli Gurriel, who’s picked worse throws out of the dirt almost routinely in the past, lets the bottom of the first inning continue.

The next batter (Manuel Margot) turns on a Lance McCullers Jr. curve and sends it skyrocketing over the center field fence for a three-run home run. The Rays lead 3-0 and will soar on to a 4-2 win and a stifling 2-0 series lead over Altuve’s Astros. It’s the kind of turn of events that no doubt delights all the Astros haters.

But anyone with any real sense of what Jose Altuve has meant to the Astros is feeling a very different emotion.

“He’s been the heartbeat of this team, the staple of this organization for so many years,” McCullers says later in a Zoom interview from Petco Park. “It just kind of sucks. I really wanted to pick him up there. I wish we were talking about something else.

“(Jose’s) a hell of a player, and he understands how much we support him. He just needs to come back tomorrow like he always has.”

The Astros did not really lose because Altuve made two uncharacteristic throwing errors. That’s the tidy and emotional narrative. But it misses the real larger Houston dilemma. Just like in their sometimes excruciatingly inconsistent regular season, the Astros suddenly cannot score again. They have put up three runs total in these two league championship series losses.

The advanced stats say that Houston is hitting the ball hard. They outhit the Rays 10-4 in this Game 2 loss, too. Yet. . . the best team in the American League all season is leaving them befuddled.

“This is the one game where you can do everything right and still not get results,” Astros shortstop Carlos Correa says. “It’s hard.”

The Rays did not win an American League-best 40 games in the short coronavirus regular season by accident. This team is now 7-2 in the postseason for good reason. Tampa Bay managed to push a much more talented and healthy Astros team to a decisive fifth game in the first round of the playoffs last October. An Astros team with Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Yordan Alvarez.

And this Rays team is much better than last year’s Rays team.

These proud, determined and wounded Astros aren’t dead yet. But make no mistake, they’re in serious trouble heading into Tuesday night’s Game 3.

“It’s not business as usual,” Correa says. “Tomorrow is a must-win situation for us. I feel like we’ve been playing good ball, but we just haven’t gotten the big hits.”

It does not help that this Rays team is hard to hate. Tampa Bay is not going to yap at the Astros a la the Oakland A’s. They’re not going to attempt to rewrite history and brand the Astros as cheaters like so many other teams have. In many ways, the Astros are left to their own devices in this fan-less series in San Diego.

So far the Astros are just doing enough to lose. McCullers pitches far better than anyone could rightfully expect just 12 months after resuming throwing off Tommy John surgery. McCullers’ future is one of the biggest reasons to believe that this near dynastic Astros run can continue on to future seasons. He strikes out 11 in seven innings, but between those strikeouts he gives up two home runs.

Correa hits another postseason home run, but no one is on base in front of him at the time. The Astros load the bases with two outs in the ninth inning, but Alex Bregman flies out on the first pitch to end the game after Rays closer Nick Anderson had thrown eight straight balls.

Jose Altuve’s Bad Turn

Baseball is not just a mercilessly hard game. It’s also often a cruel one. Altuve feels the weight of that cruelty now. You can make play after play in the field, save runs for years. No matter. One bad afternoon can still leave you crushed.

“You just hope he isn’t getting the yips,” Baker, the Astros 71-year-old baseball lifer, says of Altuve. “Because invariably, they come in bunches. Everything comes in bunches. I just told him to flush it. This guy has been awesome for us. You’ve got to flush it and move on, or else it multiplies.”

Altuve is one of the best players in Astros franchise history. He’s been the driving force of two World Series teams. None of that changes with what happened in postcard perfect San Diego on Monday afternoon .

But none of that will make Jose Altuve feel any better either. Neither will Dusty Baker’s hug. This isn’t Little League. Everyone’s not going out for ice cream no matter what. Altuve will feel it. He needs a lift.

Only wins can do that — and these Astros, one of the proudest teams in all of professional sports, are quickly running out of time.