Astros: Top 5 recent sports moments: Jose Altuve’s walk-off
Altuve’s walk-off bomb in the ALCS caps off the Top 5 recent Houston sports moments. Let’s revisit this iconic moment in Houston Astros history.
“Altuve has just sent the Astros to the World Series” are words Houston Astros fans will never forget. So deservedly it caps off the Top Five moments of Houston sports in 2019.
Leading 4-2 entering the ninth, the Astros were three outs away from heading to their second World Series in three years. But everything changed with one swing of the bat as Yankee’s second baseman DJ LeMahieu tied the game up two-run home run off Roberto Osuna.
The Yankees then brought in their flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman, who they hoped would shut the Astros down and send the game into extra innings. Chapman made quick work of the first two hitters he faced when George Springer stepped to the plate.
Chapman started off Springer with a first-pitch strike but then ran into some control issues, walking Springer on four straight balls. The Astros had the winning run on base for Jose Altuve, the man they wanted at the plate in the biggest moments.
Altuve quickly got ahead 2-0 in the count as Chapman missed with his first two fastballs. After throwing six straight balls Chapman finally threw a strike to work the count to 2-1. With the tension as high as it ever has been inside Minute Maid Park, Chapman threw a hanging slider and the rest is history.
Take a look below:
With this moonshot over the left-field wall, Altuve had not only hit one of the greatest and most clutch home runs in Houston Astros history but he had just sent the 2017 World Series Champions back to their second World Series in three years.
This home run could not have come from a better person than Altuve, who, defying all the odds, went from just a regular guy on a team that perenially averaged 100 losses per season during a rebuilding patch to being an AL MVP and World Series champion. Altuve, who will go down as one of the Astros all-time greats, just cemented his legacy even more with this one swing of the bat.
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Although the 2019 World Series did not turn out the way Houston wanted it to, nothing will take away from Altuve’s walk-off which is without a doubt the most iconic Houston sports moment from 2019.