José Altuve’s ‘inexcusable’ mistake gets MLB world buzzing

When Alex Bregman first hit Aroldis Chapman’s 2-1 slider in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday night between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, it looked as though it might have been a game-tying home run. Instead, it ended up being a nightmare for Bregman, José Altuve and the rest of the Astros.

Bregman’s didn’t quite have home run distance. It looked like it would be an extra-base hit, though, which would have likely scored Altuve and put Bregman on second (or even third) base as the tying run with nobody out. But Texas left fielder Evan Carter had other ideas, making a leaping grab against the wall. He then threw the ball into the infield, which was when things went from good to great for the Rangers, and bad to worse for the Astros.

Altuve made it back to first base well ahead of any potential throw. The throw went into second baseman Marcus Semien, who tagged second base. Umpire Doug Eddings ruled that Altuve had re-touched second base but the Rangers challenged the play and the replay told another story. Altuve initially stopped just short of second base, but took a step over the bag before retreating back to first. He never re-touched the base. As such, Texas won the challenge, clearing the bases in the process.

That was, for all intents and purposes, it for the Astros. Yordan Álvarez grounded out to end the inning, then José Abreu, Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick then went down in order in the ninth inning, giving the Rangers a 1-0 win.

A veteran star like Altuve making such a crucial mistake sparked a lot of conversation among baseball fans.

Of course, we don’t know what would have happened if Altuve had re-touched second base. Certainly, though, Altuve and the rest of the Astros would like to know. The pressure will be on Houston to win Game 2 on Tuesday. If the Rangers win, the Astros will need to win two of the middle three games in Arlington to even get the ALCS back to Houston.