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Tag: Jose Altuve

  • Alex Bregman is a Free Agent, Will He Return to Houston

    Alex Bregman is a Free Agent, Will He Return to Houston

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    Perhaps the most important signing (or non-signing) watch of the offseason began Thursday. With the Dodgers beating the Yankees in a yawner of a World Series, baseball is officially over until 2025, which means teams will begin the mad scramble that is hot stove season.

    For the Astros, all eyes are on Alex Bregman. The home grown third baseman is a free agent and should get a massive contract by the Astros or some other team. How much, how long and with whom are questions every Astros fan is wondering right now and no one knows the answer.

    Unlike previous seasons when the Astros allowed George Springer and Carlos Correa to leave via free agency, this is not a team that is still loaded with talent across the board. There is no Jeremy Peña waiting in the wings to take over at third base and no dominant other youngsters who might fill the void in the lineup. For the first time in the “golden era” of Astros baseball, Jim Crane may be forced to doll out the kind of contract he has been loathe to give previously.

    Not only is there not a viable option at third if Bregman leaves (making it more likely they will have to spend money on some high end free agent at that position), but he is rather unique among the Astros veterans. On field, he often acts like another coach, working with pitchers on strategy. He was one of the players who encouraged Yussei Kikuchi to throw specific pitches repeatedly that ended in tremendous success after coming to Houston.

    There is also a point where, as a franchise, you have to find a way to stop the bleeding and keep some of your best players in house. They have done that with Cristian Javier, Jose Altuve and, to a lesser extent, Yordan Alvarez. Altuve, in particular, has been vocal in his belief that Bregman should and will return to a roster that absolutely needs him in the lineup.

    By all accounts, Crane and GM Dana Brown will make a sizable offer to their third baseman. The average annual value (AAV) of the deal will likely be in line with some of the highest paid third basemen in the league. The question is will they offer enough years?

    Matt Chapman, a player who is better defensively and has very similar numbers to Bregman, but doesn’t have the same playoff resumé, got six-year $151 million deal from San Francisco this year. That will be the starting point for negotiations between the Astros and Bregman’s super agent Scott Boras (who also represents Altuve).

    Would, for example, five years, $160 million get it done? That’s $7 million more per season than Chapman, but one fewer year of the deal. If they Astros went to six years, would $180 million be enough to bring Bregman back or could he get more on the open market?

    The truth is, if the Astros give Bregman a fair offer with a high AAV and he still opts to leave for more money or more years (seven or eight seasons?), no one in Astro world (pun intended) should hang their heads. The Astros had the third highest payroll in baseball this year and it was still almost $55 million lower than the Yankees and more than $60 million lower than the Mets.

    By comparison, the A’s spent just over $63 million in total payroll in 2024.

    The Astros and Crane spend money and they will continue to be willing to do so. But there are factors beyond Bregman. A much bigger free agent year awaits them after the 2025 season when Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez (among others) enter free agency. Tucker will be worth more on the open market than Bregman. And none of this takes into account the fact that the Astros really don’t have an every day first baseman on the roster or in the minors.

    Everyone wants Alex Bregman back in an Astros uniform, but if he doesn’t sign in Houston, it won’t be because the Astros were cheap. It will be because the market it ridiculous and even with the third highest payroll in baseball, there are limits to what Jim Crane can spend.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Jose Altuve hits go-ahead homer in 9th, Astros take 3-2 lead over Rangers in ALCS after benches clear

    Jose Altuve hits go-ahead homer in 9th, Astros take 3-2 lead over Rangers in ALCS after benches clear

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    By Stephen Hawkins

    Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros, after getting into another bench-clearing scuffle with the Texas Rangers, rallied for a 5-4 victory in a wild and testy Game 5 of the AL Championship Series on Friday.

    After winning all three games at rival Texas, the defending champion Astros head home to Houston needing one win to reach a third consecutive World Series. They lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven playoff going into Game 6 on Sunday night.

    Adolis García punctuated his towering three-run homer in the sixth with a slow trot and an empathic spike of his bat after watching the ball clear the wall to give Texas a 4-2 lead.

    When the slugger came to bat again with a runner on first in the eighth, Bryan Abreu hit García on the left arm with a pitch. An angry García immediately turned to get in the face of catcher Martín Maldonado — the two also jawed nose-to-nose when García touched home plate after his grand slam in Houston on July 26.

    Both benches and bullpens cleared, and once things settled down, García, Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker had been ejected.

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  • Astros’ Jose Altuve has broken right thumb, needs surgery

    Astros’ Jose Altuve has broken right thumb, needs surgery

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    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Houston Astros star Jose Altuve has a broken right thumb and needs surgery after getting hurt in Venezuela’s 9-7 quarterfinal loss to the United States at the World Baseball Classic.

    The Astros said Sunday they will announce a prognosis for the second baseman after the operation.

    The ight-time All-Star and the 2017 American League MVP fell after he was struck by a 95.9 mph sinker from Colorado reliever Daniel Bard in the fifth inning Saturday night. Altuve grimaced as he walked off with an athletic trainer.

    Altuve’s injury occurred three days after New York Mets All-Star closer Edwin Díaz sustained a season-ending knee injury during the postgame celebration of Puerto Rico’s 5-2 win over the Dominican Republic. Díaz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee and had surgery on Thursday.

    “It appears it could be a while,” Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters Sunday at spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Altuve returned for a medical examination.

    Utilityman Mauricio Dubon, who batted .208 games last season, is expected to move into the Astros’ lineup to replace Altuve.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Astros Credit World Series Win To Subject Of Future MLB Investigation

    Astros Credit World Series Win To Subject Of Future MLB Investigation

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    HOUSTON—Following their victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to clinch the title, the Houston Astros credited their World Series win to the subject of a future MLB investigation. “We couldn’t have done it without the tactics that will be at the center of a wide-ranging probe by MLB officials roughly 18 months from now,” said Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, adding that his teammates would always recall the thrilling series as another stain on the franchise’s legacy. “There’s no feeling like this in the world, to know that you’ve won it all, and it’s all thanks to a clandestine system developed by our bench coach and put into action by a few players who will be the subject of rumors beginning in a few months, with everything coming to light just before the 2024 season. Ultimately, we couldn’t have done it without numerous violations that will result in the suspension of multiple players and coaches, and nobody can take that away from us, even though there will be calls to vacate our championship after this all gets out in the open.” At press time, Astros owner Jim Crane reportedly congratulated the team for carrying out the subject of the investigation in such a way as to keep him immune from punishment.

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  • Harper, Phillies tie World Series mark with 5 HR, top Astros

    Harper, Phillies tie World Series mark with 5 HR, top Astros

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    PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper bashed a home run on the first World Series pitch he saw in Philadelphia, and then figured out how the Phillies could hit a few more.

    The $330 million star offered quiet advice to Alec Bohm — and then it got really loud in Philadelphia.

    As for those whispers in May that the Phillies were finished? Forget about ’em. The secret has long been out: these Phillies are for real.

    Now, they’re two wins away from their first World Series championship since 2008.

    Harper hammered his sixth postseason home run, whispered an assist to Bohm before his solo shot and the Phillies tied a World Series record with five homers to rout the Houston Astros 7-0 Tuesday night and take a 2-1 Series lead.

    Brandon Marsh also homered, and Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins hit back-to-back shots in the fifth inning to chase Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. Philadelphia used the long ball to end the long wait for its first World Series home win since Game 5 of the 2009 World Series.

    Those Phillies couldn’t finish the job.

    Ranger Suárez tossed three-hit ball over five shutout innings and inched this year’s team closer to getting it done.

    Harper, Bohm, Marsh and the rest of the Phillies on the last team to qualify for the playoffs are two wins away from ending the season as the last team standing. With a sparkling 6-0 record at Citizens Bank Park this postseason, the Phillies just may not return to Texas.

    “It’s our fan base. I mean, plain and simple.” Harper said. “They keep us going, keep us fired up.”

    Another red, raucous, resolute crowd of 45,712 let the Astros have it from the first pitch with chants of “Cheater! Cheater!” for Jose Altuve and “Check the Bat! Check the Bat!” for Martin Maldonado.

    The fans — already amped from the jump after another sliding catch by right fielder Nick Castellanos in the first — didn’t wait long to go wild for the home run barrage.

    With leadoff hitter Schwarber on first base, Harper repeated his flair for playoff power when he ripped a two-run shot off McCullers into the right field seats for the fast lead. That made Harper 2 for 2 on home run swings in Philly — he sent the Phillies to the World Series with a two-run drive in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series to beat San Diego.

    Harper crossed the plate and again exclaimed “This is my house!” before he ripped off his helmet, exposed his Phillie Phanatic headband and was mobbed by teammates in the dugout.

    Harper’s homers shake the stadium to the point they should be measured on the Richter scale rather than in feet — and they seem as automatic these days as a Phillie Phanatic spin on his ATV. Harper has hit four postseason homers that gave the Phillies the lead and showed that, yes, Bryce Bombs do go off in November, the first time more World Series games will be played in this month than October.

    Oh, and Harper might have a second career as a homer whisperer.

    Harper beckoned Bohm from the on-deck circle and back to the dugout for a quick word of advice.

    Maybe Harper saw McCullers tipping his pitches?

    “I think that’s just general conversation,” Harper said. “Trying to get as much information as we can from each other. We just tried to have the best at-bats we could.”

    Whatever the quiet counseling was, it worked, and Bohm lined his first postseason homer leading off the second inning and the 1,000th in World Series history into the left field seats for 3-0 lead.

    So c’mon, Alec, fess up, what did Bryce tell you?

    “That’s between us,” Bohm said on TV with a shrug and a big smile.

    Marsh took the baton on the long-ball relay and knocked one into the right field seats that was dropped by a young kid from Delaware. The home run stood after a brief review — as it seems nothing can interfere with Philadelphia’s playoff push — and it was 4-0.

    With that, McCullers had allowed four homers to his first nine batters. The right-hander who got his left triceps inked with nods to Houston got absolutely tattooed by the Phillies.

    Schwarber, the NL home run champion, again dumped a two-run shot into a thicket of English ivy, Arborvitae and Holly beyond center field, and Hoskins connected on solo shot for a 7-0 lead that ended McCullers’ night.

    McCullers became the first pitcher to give up five home runs in a World Series game.

    “I don’t really get hit around like that, so I was a little bit in disbelief,” McCullers said.

    Suárez, the scheduled Game 4 starter before Game 3 was postponed a day by rain, delivered with the performance of his career and shut down the big bats in the AL champs’ lineup.

    He needed only two pitches to get the first two outs of the game and struck out Yordan Alvarez to end the first. The few jams he got into, Suárez worked his way out, notably in the second when he whiffed Chas McCormick and left two runners stranded. He retired Altuve to end the fifth on a soft foul pop with two runners on base.

    Four relievers each tossed a scoreless inning to finish the five-hitter.

    THE CHAMPS ARE HERE

    Philly sports champions Mike Schmidt, Julius Erving, Brandon Graham and Bernie Parent threw first pitches to 2008 World Series champions Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. Country music star Tim McGraw, son of the late Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, received a huge ovation and wore his dad’s No. 45 McGraw jersey. McGraw closed the 1980 World Series with a strikeout.

    UP NEXT

    The Phillies send RHP Aaron Nola (2-1, 4.57 ERA in the postseason) to the mound against Houston RHP Christian Javier (1-0, 1.35 ERA) in Game 4. Nola was done after 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the World Series, though he retired the final six batters he faced and left in a tie game after the Phillies rallied from an early 5-0 deficit — and won 6-5.

    ———

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Realmuto, Phils rally past Astros in 10 to open World Series

    Realmuto, Phils rally past Astros in 10 to open World Series

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    HOUSTON — A timely swing by J.T. Realmuto propelled the Philadelphia Phillies to an unlikely win in the World Series opener.

    A terrific stab by right fielder Nick Castellanos gave him that shot.

    Realmuto hit a solo home run in the 10th inning and the Phillies, saved by Castellanos’ sliding catch, rallied past the Houston Astros 6-5 Friday night.

    Down 5-0 early against Astros ace Justin Verlander, the Phillies became the first team in 20 years to overcome a five-run deficit to win a World Series game.

    They can thank Castellanos for getting the chance. Known much more for his bat than glove, he rushed in to make a game-saving grab on Jeremy Peña’s blooper with two outs in the ninth inning and a runner on second.

    “All in all, it was a great game, a great come from behind victory, and it just showed the resilience of the club again and how tough they are and they just never quit,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

    Realmuto, who hit a tying, two-run double in the fifth off Verlander, completed the comeback when he led off the 10th by sending a fastball from Luis García into the seats.

    Realmuto hoped for the best as he saw right fielder Kyle Tucker pursuing the ball.

    “Once I saw him running back to the wall, I was thinking in my head, ‘Oh, please just don’t catch it, just don’t catch it.’”

    He didn’t, the ball sailing just beyond his reach.

    Realmuto circled the bases in a scene he dreamed about as a kid.

    “Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean Wiffle Ball games in the backyard, the whole 3-2, bases-loaded, two-out situation. I probably had 7,000 at-bats in that situation growing up,” he said.

    And did he usually deliver?

    “Every time, yes,” Realmuto said, laughing.

    Realmuto became the first catcher to hit an extra-inning home run in the World Series since Carlton Fisk waved his walk-off fair in the 12th inning of Game 6 in the 1975 Series against Cincinnati at Fenway Park.

    Big-hitting Bryce Harper added two singles for the Phillies in his World Series debut. The two-time NL MVP is batting .426 (20 for 47) with five homers this postseason.

    Tucker homered twice for the Astros, who had been 7-0 in this postseason.

    “Disappointing, yeah, for sure,” Verlander said. “I need to do better. No excuses.”

    Houston had a chance in the 10th when Alex Bregman doubled with one out. After Yuli Gurriel drew a two-out walk, David Robertson bounced a wild pitch that put runners on second and third.

    Pinch-hitter Aledmys Díaz was then hit by a 2-0 pitch from David Robertson — but plate umpire James Hoye ruled that Díaz leaned into the pitch and didn’t permit him to go to first to load the bases.

    Díaz grounded out on a 3-1 pitch to end it.

    The last team to blow a 5-0 lead in the World Series was the 2002 San Francisco Giants, who squandered their chance in Game 6 to close out the Angels and win the title under manager Dusty Baker.

    Baker saw it happen again this time as manager of the Astros, by the same 6-5 final score.

    The 106-win Astros hadn’t lost to anyone since Philadelphia beat them on Oct. 3 behind Aaron Nola to clinch a wild-card spot as a third-place team and earn its first playoff trip in 11 years.

    Houston raced out to a big lead thanks in large part to Tucker’s two homers. But the Phillies stormed back as Verlander again struggled in the World Series.

    Perfect as he took a 5-0 lead into the fourth, he exited after the fifth with the score 5-all. That left him 0-6 with a 6.07 ERA in eight career World Series starts — hardly the line for a pitcher who’s expected to soon pick up his third Cy Young Award.

    The Astros fell to 0-5 in World Series openers and dropped their first game this postseason after sweeping in the AL Division Series and AL Championship Series.

    Seranthony Domínguez pitched a scoreless ninth to get the win when Castellanos made his stellar play.

    With Jose Altuve on second base after his two-out single and stolen base, Peña hit a ball that came off the bat at 68 mph and went only about 200 feet. Castellanos ran a long way, then with a lunge made the inning-ending catch while sliding to the ground.

    Right before the pitch, Castellanos moved in a little closer.

    “That was just what my instincts told me to do. I just thought he had a better chance of trying to bloop something in there than torching something over my head,” he said.

    In the opener of the NL Division Series against Atlanta, Castellanos drove in three runs and helped preserve the lead with a somewhat similar catch in the ninth of that 7-6 win.

    “I’ve had a couple people say that it seemed like a carbon copy of each other,” he said. “But I’m just happy that an out was made and we were able to go on and win both those games.”

    In the World Series for the fourth time in six years — and after losing to Atlanta in six games last year — these Astros are looking to give Baker his first title as a manager and get their second championship after winning it in 2017, a title tainted by a sign-stealing scandal.

    The surprising Phillies, who have two championships, are in the World Series for the first time since 2009. They bounced back from a 21-29 start that led to manager Joe Girardi’s firing.

    Tucker had the orange-clad home crowd rocking early as he became the first player in franchise history with a multi-home run game in the World Series. One of the few players in the majors to hit without batting gloves and suddenly exuding attitude, he had four RBIs a year after finishing the Fall Classic without one.

    The normally mild-mannered Tucker punctuated his first homer with a nifty bat flip and mixed in an expletive as he screamed toward the dugout while beginning his trot.

    Nola took a perfect game into the seventh inning in his last trip to Minute Maid Park, more than three weeks ago when Philadelphia secured its first playoff spot since 2011. Things didn’t go nearly as smooth in his return Friday.

    Tucker sent an off-speed pitch from Nola soaring high and into the seats in right field to put Houston up 1-0 with no outs in the second. Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Martín Maldonado added singles for another run.

    Peña, the ALCS MVP, doubled to open Houston’s third before Yordan Alvarez grounded out. He was initially ruled safe, but the Phillies challenged the call, and it was overturned.

    Bregman, who was Nola’s roommate at LSU, walked before Tucker went deep again, knocking a ball into the stands behind the bullpen in right-center to extend it to 5-0.

    Verlander, who had an MLB-best 1.75 ERA in the regular season, allowed six hits and five runs in five innings. He joined Roger Clemens as the only pitchers in major league history to make a World Series start in three different decades but still could not claim that elusive World Series win. Friday was his 12th career start in a postseason series opener, tying him with Jon Lester for most in MLB history.

    Verlander, who started his third Series opener, retired the first 10 batters before Rhys Hoskins singled with one out in the fourth. Harper and Castellanos singled for a run and Alec Bohm hit a two-run double to cut the lead to 5-3.

    Brandon Marsh opened the fifth with a double before Kyle Schwarber walked. Realmuto sent them both home with a double off the wall in left-center to tie it at 5-all.

    UP NEXT

    Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler opposes Framber Valdez when the series continues Saturday night.

    ———

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Jose Altuve Still Can’t Get Over How Small He Looks Out There

    Jose Altuve Still Can’t Get Over How Small He Looks Out There

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    HOUSTON—Marveling to himself as he looked up at a replay on the stadium scoreboard, Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was reportedly heard saying that he still couldn’t get over how small he looked out there. “My God, I look so tiny up there—it seriously gets me every time,” said the awestruck Altuve, adding that there was “no way in hell” he was as tall as his 5-foot-6-inch listed height. “You’d think that after a decade in the majors I’d be used to it, but every time I see myself out there, I just get totally blown away by how small I am. See me up there next to Yordan [Alvarez]? The height discrepancy looks ridiculous. Every time I see myself, I just can’t believe a guy that small can play professional baseball.” At press time, Altuve was asking those around him if he used a child-size glove out there or what.

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  • Love ’em or hate ’em, Series-bound Astros keep on winning

    Love ’em or hate ’em, Series-bound Astros keep on winning

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    They’re off to the World Series for a fourth time in six seasons, a remarkable feat of staying power for a franchise in any era of baseball history, let alone one that includes a 12-team playoff gauntlet filled with potential pitfalls.

    Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. put it succiently on Sunday night: “This is not easy.”

    Even so, the dichotomy that is this generation of Houston Astros will probably never go away.

    They left no doubt that they’re the best team in the American League this season, sweeping aside slugger Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees in four games after Sunday’s 6-5 victory.

    It should be a lovable group. There’s pint-sized star Jose Altuve, two-time All-Star Alex Bregman, ace right-hander Justin Verlander and a slew of up-and-coming players like ALCS MVP Jeremy Peña, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. There’s also Dusty Baker, the 73-year-old manager who is still searching for his first World Series title and the oldest man to lead a team to the Fall Classic.

    And yet…

    The stench of the 2017 cheating scandal — when the Astros were found to have illicitly stolen signs that season — still lingers, even though 21 of the 26 players on this year’s ALCS roster were not on the 2017 team.

    Only Altuve, Bregman, McCullers, Verlander and Yuli Gurriel remain. The quintet has endured a firehose of hate from fans and even fellow players since the scandal was brought to light before the 2020 season. The catcalls were still heard at Yankee Stadium over the past few days, but as the Astros piled up the runs and wins, there was a hint of another emotion.

    Grudging respect.

    “They got better treatment here this time than in previous times here,” Baker said. “So maybe it was a different crowd or maybe the crowd has finally forgiven things of the past.”

    That’s probably wishful thinking.

    But it’s also probably time to admit that these Astros — trash cans or no trash cans — are simply really good at baseball.

    “When everything happened a few years ago, we knew the one thing that we could do is we could win and we could win and win a lot,” McCullers said. “I understand people are still not going to like us. They’re going to boo us, but at some point you have to respect what we’re doing.”

    It’s a franchise that’s kept rolling despite the upheaval the cheating scandal wrought. Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended for a year by MLB and eventually fired before being replaced by Baker and James Click. Many of the best players from that 2017 team have retired or moved on to other teams.

    Star outfielder George Springer left for the Blue Jays. Two-time All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa signed with the Twins. Right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton left for the Rays and is now with the Braves.

    Altuve is among those who have witnessed it all. Now his team is back in the World Series: The Astros host the Phillies in Game 1 on Friday.

    Those who wanted the Astros to suffer a quick, embarrassing downfall in the aftermath of 2017 continue to be disappointed.

    “When you talk about Springer, Charlie Morton, Carlos Correa, you’re talking about all superstars, and to get players to fill that spot it’s not easy,” Altuve said before Game 4 on Sunday. “The fact that we’re still playing really good and being in these situations, like I said, we just have to give a lot of credit to the front office group.”

    In a way, the Astros saga is a fitting chapter for a sport that can never seem to completely enjoy its biggest moments.

    Judge set the AL record for homers with 62 this season and the debate raged about whether he should be considered the all-time single-season record holder. Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa all hit more in the National League, but for many, their accomplishments are overshadowed by links to performance-enhancing drugs.

    Now the debate will rage about the Astros.

    Altuve has become a pro at deflecting vitriol. He knows some in baseball would love for them to go away.

    That doesn’t appear to be happening any time soon.

    “I do as best as I can to keep everything away and just focus on the game and just be ready to help my team,” Altuve said. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter where I play, I just got to be 100% focused on the game.”

    ———

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Cortes hurt, leaves after tying 3-run HR in ALCS Game 4

    Cortes hurt, leaves after tying 3-run HR in ALCS Game 4

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    NEW YORK — Nestor Cortes’ fastball dropped 3 mph from the end of the second inning to the third in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series, and New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone walked to the mound with head athletic trainer Tim Lentych.

    “He said he was fine,” Boone recalled. “I’m not going to just pull him out of the game because he isn’t perfect.”

    Eight pitches later, Cortes allowed a tying three-run homer to Jeremy Peña and the Astros went on to a 6-5 victory Sunday night that completed a four-game AL Championship Series sweep.

    “It’s kind of embarrassing that that happened, obviously, with the circumstances we were in,” Cortes said.

    Cortes had reaggravated his strained left groin during workouts in the five days ahead of the Division Series opener against Cleveland on Oct. 11 but made a pair of starts against the Guardians and won Game 5.

    He allowed a single and a walk in the first two innings against the Astros, then walked Martín Maldonado leading off the third and had a 2-1 count on Jose Altuve when Boone made the mound visit after his eighth pitch of the inning.

    “He asked me how I felt and I told him, `I feel well enough to compete. I feel great,’” Cortes recalled. “He knows I’m a competitor. He knows that it’s going to be hard to take me off the mound. And I think I showed all year that I’ve gained respect from him to leave me out there and grind through it.”

    Cortes threw 17 fastballs in the first two innings against Houston ranging from 89.4 to 92.4 mph. His seven in the second inning were from 87.7 mph to 89.1 mph.

    His control was off. Cortes went to three-ball counts on seven of 11 batters and he threw just 28 of 55 pitches for strikes.

    “It gradually got worse. It started locking up on me there in the third,” Cortes said.

    Altuve’s walk marked the first time the 27-year-old All-Star left-hander walked consecutive batters this year. He fell behind 3-1 when Pena homered on a cutter, driving it into the left-field seats.

    “I don’t think that homer was because I was hurt,” Cortes said. “It was just, he put a good swing to it. I thought I had located the pitch pretty well.”

    Cortes did not pitch between Aug. 21 and Sept. 8 because of a strained left groin, then returned to make five regular-season starts and two in the Division Series, when he allowed three runs in 10 innings.

    “It’s been lingering for a while,” he said.

    Cortes thought he could pitch through it and Boone believed him.

    “We’ve been dealing with this on different levels for a couple months,” Boone said. “He said he was fine and then obviously wasn’t quite fine enough.”

    ———

    More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • The New York Yankees Encounter An Unsolved Mystery In Houston Astros Pitching

    The New York Yankees Encounter An Unsolved Mystery In Houston Astros Pitching

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    During a replay challenge to see if Jose Altuve was safe on a routine groundout, those in charge of playing music at Yankee Stadium whipped out the theme song from “Unsolved Mysteries”

    The haunting tune preceded the hit NBC show that ran for nine seasons while being hosted by Robert Stack, whose voice led into the show by saying “Perhaps You Can Help Solve a Mystery.”

    Through three games of the ALCS, the Yankees are enduring their own version of “Unsolved Mysteries” against the Astros about why despite holding the AL’s second-best record, they are getting dominated by Houston’s standout pitching staff, the one who has shirts reading “No, No, No, No-Hitter and “Framber Valdez’s 2022 Quality Start Tour.”

    Through the first three games, the Yankees are putrid 12-for-94 (.128) with 41 strikeouts. They are one game away from being swept out of the ALCS for the first time since hitting .157 and striking out 36 times against Detroit in 2012.

    By comparison when the Yankees were competitive against the Astros in 2017 and 2019, their averages were better. In the six-game loss in 2019, the Yankees batted .214 and in the seven-game loss two years earlier, the Yankees batted .205.

    In this series, New York has seen 449 pitches from seven pitchers. Perhaps the most astounding stat involves Cristian Javier’s success against the Yankees.

    On June 25, Javier threw 115 pitches in seven hitless innings to combine with Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly on the first no-hitter for some people’s baseball attending life. On Saturday, he threw 52 pitches before Giancarlo Stanton doubled, making it 168 pitches in 10 1/3 innings against Javier at Yankee Stadium this year.

    As you would expect, the mood inside the silent Yankee clubhouse was somber with the theme of trying to get everyone going or enough players rolling. It was most certainly a contrast to the environment of Tuesday when the Yankees celebrated modestly before boarding the plane to Houston.

    “We’ve got a lot of talented individuals in this room and just haven’t been able to get everybody clicking,” Aaron Judge said.

    “Our backs are against the wall now,” Anthony Rizzo said. “As a competitor and as a baseball player, it sucks, but tomorrow we have another game. Obviously, this isn’t ideal, but we just have to win tomorrow. It sucks tonight, it’s going to suck, it’s going to sting, but tomorrow we have to figure out a way to win.”

    “I think they’ve attacked the zone,” third baseman Josh Donaldson said before the YES Network postgame panel opined, he was guessing at pitches. “They have good stuff. They have good arms over there. Can’t take anything away from those guys, but we just need to be better.”

    Rizzo was the fourth leadoff hitter of the postseason which seems like the sign of a team struggling to find it at the plate. Judge batted leadoff for the first two games of the ALDS and coincidentally after Alex Rodriguez said on FOX the slugger should not bat leadoff, Gleyber Torres moved there for four games before Harrison Bader did it in Game 2 of the ALCS and Rizzo led off for Game 3.

    When a team is going as poorly as the Yankees are these days, it hardly takes much to quiet a loud environment.

    The moment occurred about 30 minutes into Game 3.

    First Judge ran in front of Bader in right-center resulting in an error for the center fielder when Gerrit Cole was one out away from getting through the second.

    Three pitches after the error, ninth-place hitter Chas McCormick got enough of a 1-1 fastball.

    At first McCormick thought the ball went foul but then he saw Rizzo give a look of “here we go again” and realized the 335-foot poke bounced into the right field seats. And when McCormick experienced that realization, the Astros did their celebration known as the “Chas Chomp”, a new celebration featuring enthusiastic and exaggerated clapping that was started by Houston fan Scott Agruso who attends game wearing an alligator suit.

    “It’s cool. I like how my teammates are into it now. Around the bases I see them always chomping,” McCormick said. “It fires me up, and I said before in case I hit a home run, I’m going to round third base, hit the chomp a couple of times to my teammates.”

    The chomp was enough to create a feeling of doom for the Yankee fans. Nearly 90 minutes later, Game 3 seemed to be officially over when Cole loaded the bases, exited and Lou Trivino allowed a sacrifice fly by Trey Mancini and a two-run single by Christian Vazquez, whose fourth-inning homer off Zack Britton was the series-clinching run for Boston over the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2018 ALDS.

    As virtually anyone who follows the postseason knows, only one team ever rallied from a three games to none deficit. The struggling offense gets its first attempt at solving the mystery of Houston pitching and joining the 2004 Red Sox as the second team to do so 18 years and three days after Boston made history at Yankee Stadium.

    “You always want to be your best,” Judge said. “I wouldn’t say as I go, we go. We’ve got a lot of individuals on this team that can carry the club. I’ve got to step up and do my job. I haven’t come up with the big hit. Missed a couple the other night. But we’ve still got a lot of ballgame in us, and just got to take care of business.”

    In less than 24 hours, the Yankees will either take care of business to live to see another day or lament everything that went wrong towards the end of a season where they held the best record in the AL until Aug. 11.

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    Larry Fleisher, Contributor

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