VIDEO: Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman Totally Cost the Astros Game 2 of the World Series With Blunders
By Chris Pyo
The two biggest stars for the Houston Astros let their team down in a big way on Wednesday night. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are both perennial MVP candidates, but unless they rapidly turn things around and help the Astros reel off four wins in the next five games, they'll be the scapegoats not only for Game 2, but for the entire Fall Classic. It all started with Altuve attempting to steal third base with one out in the first inning:
Sure, Kurt Suzuki may have only thrown out five out of 50 baserunners this season, but why would you give an MLB catcher the opportunity to throw you out clean at third base in a World Series game? The batter up wasn't even a righty, which would've stalled Suzuki for another millisecond. Instead, Altuve cost the Astros a chance to put up another run in the first considering Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer a batter later.
And then Bregman's fielding completely imploded in the seventh inning. On this first play, Bregman couldn't cleanly field a grounder off the bat of Howie Kendrick. Even though it was ruled an infield single (the box scorers should perhaps look at that a little closer), Astros fans will no doubt be furious with their third baseman for messing that up.
Two batters later, Ryan Zimmerman hit a slow grounder in Bregman's direction, who, to his credit, was trying to make a difficult play. Unfortunately for him, he completely threw it away, allowing two more runs to score.
This half-inning gave the Nationals an 8-2 lead in the top of the seventh. The damage could have been a lot less if not for Bregman's errors in the field, and the Astros could've had another run if not for Altuve's ill-advised steal attempt.
Game 2 is going to be one the Astros wish they could have back.