The Houston Astros would win a thriller, 7-6, over the Los Angeles Dodgers on a walk-off home run Saturday, but it wasn't without some lowlights for the winning side. Jose Altuve, with a bases loaded opportunity in the bottom of the eighth inning, swung at three nearly identical pitches.
Seriously, they were all the same. Same pitch, about the same velocity, same part of the strike zone: Way outside. Pitcher Blake Treinen probably thought he got away with something here.
With the bases loaded, Altuve swung and missed at three Treinen sliders outside the strike zone pic.twitter.com/YM4WLW6se8
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 28, 2024
The bad-look at-bat would end the inning, but Josh Hader would come in to pitch the ninth inning for a clean 1-2-3 inning. Then, Bregman had the first at-bat in the bottom of the ninth and the rest would be history.
Altuve's 1-2-3 at-bat probably felt very bad, but that's the life of a baseball player. You're going to have more lows than highs, and it's about working through the valleys and staying consistent until you can ride the peaks. After a June where Altuve slugged .510, he's fallen to .387 in July.
A nine-time All-Star and a lifetime .307 hitter, don't expect Altuve to be down for too long. Don't expect him to stop swinging, either.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jose Altuve Wasted Bases Loaded Opportunity With Swings at Three Bad Pitches.
