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Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a solo home run off of Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox during the fifth inning of game one of the American League Division Series on October 5, 2017 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Altuve gave the Astros their first lead of the 2019 postseason, hitting a two-run shot off the Rays in the bottom of the fifth to put Houston up 2-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS. Even when the Houston Astros were a historically bad baseball team early in his career, Jose Altuve served as a rare bright spot for a franchise that had nothing but the future to look forward to. Now, 12 years into his career, Altuve is among the most prolific playoff performers in MLB history for an annual World Series contender. In the bottom of the seventh, Altuve hit a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes on the first pitch of the at bat against Drew Smyly, making the game 7-2, Astros. In the top of the ninth, Altuve blasted a first-pitch, three-run homer off closer Liam Hendriks, making it 10-1.
Altuve's solo home run in Game 4 of the ALCS came in the bottom of the first, but it proved to be a valuable one. The Houston Astros veteran is closing in on Manny Ramirez's all-time MLB record.
Appearances on Leaderboards, Awards, and Honors
The only players with more are George Springer , Duke Snider , Babe Ruth , Lou Gehrig , Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson . It was Altuve's 19th post-season home run, tying former teammate George Springer for the most in franchise history. Altuve endured an 0-for-16 performance in an ALDS sweep of the Mariners, including a career-worst 0-for-8 in third game which lasted a postseason record-tying 18 innings. The hitless streak extended to 25 at bats, setting a record for most to start a postseason, until Altuve hit an opposite-field double in the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium in Game 3 of the 2022 ALCS.
Down 2-1 in the top of the eighth, Altuve sent Garrett Whitlock’s 96 mph sinker over the Green Monster, tying the game at 2 and marking a turning point in both the game and the series. The Astros went on to win that game 9-2 and eventually earned their third World Series berth in five years two games later. In the bottom of the fifth, with no outs, George Springer and Altuve went back to back for a pair of homers off Corey Kluber, giving the Astros a 4-0 lead in a game they went on to win 7-2. In the bottom of the seventh, Altuve took Jake Diekman deep for a solo homer that gave the Astros an 11-4 lead and put an emphatic end to a series they dominated.
2017 World Series Game 5 vs. Dodgers (No.
"I knew we had already lost three and it wasn't going to be fun going to the break losing a fourth game," he said. "It was pretty amazing how Altuve did it again. He's a guy with a big heart, the face of this team. … I would say Altuve, the guy's done it for many years. Seeing him out there and when he got to the plate, we know something big is going to happen." Down 7-2 heading to the ninth, the Astros posted their first win when trailing by five or more runs in the ninth inning since July 25, 1980 (and the first ended on a walk-off hit since July 24, 1978).
It was also Altuve's second straight game with at least three hits, a 6–1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on June 30. He hit his third career grand slam and second of the season on July 14, yielding the Astros a franchise record-breaking ninth grand slam in a single season. On July 8, 2018, Altuve was selected as the starting second baseman for the American League in the All-Star Game, collecting the most votes of any player with 4,849,630 votes.
2017 ALCS Game 6 vs New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park
Altuve had an answer of his own in the bottom half of the inning, blasting a three-run home run off Kenta Maeda to even the score. The final score of 9-2 doesn't give justice to how close Game 4 of the 2021 ALCS actually was. Altuve came to the plate with the Red Sox up 2-1 in the top of the eighth, and proceeded to hit a game-tying solo shot over the Green Monster.
The second of these was a solo shot off Chris Sale in the bottom of the fifth that stretched Houston's lead to three runs. Altuve got the Astros started on a promising note in the 2020 ALCS, hitting a solo shot off Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell in the top of the first inning of Game 1. Unfortunately for Houston, the team failed to score again throughout the 2-1 loss, despite recording nine hits compared to just six for Tampa Bay.
2021 ALCS Game 1 vs. Red Sox (No.
Altuve became the first MLB player since 1933 to have 130 hits and 40 stolen bases before the All-Star Break. For the 2022 regular season, Altuve batted .300, reaching the mark for the first time since 2018, and tied his career high with 66 walks in 141 games. He finished eighth in the AL in batting, fourth in each of OBP (.387), SLG (.533) and OPS (.921), and third in OPS+ . He also ranked second both with 103 runs scored and stolen base percentage (94.74, 18-for-19), eighth in doubles , and tenth in total bases . Altuve won his fourth Luis Aparicio Award, and was nominated for the AL Hank Aaron Award.
In the top of the 10th, with no outs and the game tied at 3, Altuve gave the Astros the lead with a line drive, solo home run off Josh Fields. This home run boosted the Astros’ chances of winning by 34%, more than any other of Altuve’s non-walk-off postseason homers. Correa tacked on another with a back-to-back home run, before giving up the lead in the bottom of the inning.
It was an inning of insurance runs, as the Astros tacked on a few more, eventually winning the game 7-1. Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve steps on home plate after hitting a solo home run to give the Astros a 2-0 lead during the fourth inning of Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021 at Truist Park in Atlanta. Prior to the 2018 season, Sports Illustrated ranked Altuve as the #2 player in baseball, trailing only Trout. On March 16, 2018, Altuve and the Astros agreed to a five-year, $151 million contract extension that would span the 2020–24 seasons. His current contract included a $6 million salary in 2018 and a $6.5 million team option in 2019. It was the largest contract in team history, and he became the sixth player to agree to a contract with an average annual value of $30 million per season or greater.
The Astros had a better result against the Rays in Game 5 of the 2019 ALDS, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first on their way to a series-clinching 6-1 victory. Altuve followed up a solo home run from Michael Brantley with one of his own in the bottom of the eighth, stretching Houston's lead to five. The 2020 ALCS wasn't a good one for the Astros in terms of capitalizing off Altuve home runs, as they dropped two out of the three games he went yard in. Houston was defeated 5-2 in Game 3, despite another first-inning smash from Altuve. Game 3 of the 2020 ALDS featured another first-inning solo blast from Altuve that didn't result in an Astros win, as the Oakland Athletics rallied late to pull out a 9-7 victory. Keep reading for a look at where each of Altuve's postseason home runs stack up.
Altuve received the ALCS MVP award for his performance in the series, batting .348 with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, 6 runs scored, and a 1.097 OPS. He also set the record for the most career postseason homers by a second baseman . He hit .303 with no home runs and one RBI in the 2019 World Series, which the Astros lost to the Washington Nationals. Altuve concluded the 2017 campaign by playing in 153 contests with an MLB-leading and career-best .346 batting average, an AL-leading 204 hits, a major-league leading 30 infield hits, 39 doubles, 32 stolen bases, 24 home runs, and 84 RBI.
