Jose Altuve takes advantage of Bryce Harper being nice, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the first inning, the game is scoreless as Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve steps to the plate against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker. With runners on first and third and two outs, Altuve prepares to face Walker's first pitch. Walker delivers a curveball that Altuve casually flips into play. Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper, standing near first base, turns his attention to the runner, Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña, who is leading off. Harper reaches down and gives Peña's leg a gentle pat, appearing to check on him after Peña's slide back to the bag. In that split-second moment of Harper's kindness, the alert Altuve seizes the opportunity. As Harper's focus is diverted, Altuve immediately breaks for home, scoring the game's first run. "He got caught being a nice guy," the announcer says, applauding Altuve's heads-up baserunning. The Astros dugout erupts in smiles and high-fives, recognizing Altuve's crafty play. "Wow, what happened?" the announcer exclaims. "Altuve just scored on that!" Phillies manager Rob Thomson emerges from the dugout, seemingly puzzled by the unusual turn of events. Replays show that as Harper turned to check on Peña, Altuve wasted no time dashing home, taking advantage of Harper's momentary lapse in attention. "Altuve said, 'I'm gonna get you for that pick-off to first,'" the announcer notes, praising the Astros star's sharp baserunning instincts. The score now 1-0 in favor of the Astros, the game continues with Walker retiring the next batter to end the inning. But the early run scored by Altuve's daring play will loom large as the closely contested matchup between these two playoff contenders unfolds.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentheads up baseball from Altuve here heads
down baseball from Harper not really
Harper just gets caught being a nice guy
we got first and third two outs it's the
first inning Taiwan Walker looking to
not give up a run to start his game this
breakdowns brought to you by DraftKings
so the first pitch to karantini is going
to be a curveball get me over curve
flips it in there then he's going to
check on the runner at first pretty
benign little pick off there Harper oh
oh Altuve
bullets home scores the run you don't
see that that often because the ball
didn't get loose look at the smiles down
the line ready you got big smiles there
one two three four all just watching him
like that guy is good huh high fives and
then yuron gets Altuve a smile oh yeah
what happened Bryce Harper got caught
being cordial being a gentleman and
Altuve said
I'mma get you for that pick off to First
and Harper's leg kind of comes down on
paa's leg see here kind of hits him and
he doesn't want to do that he doesn't
want to land on a dude's leg and hurt
him now Altuve takes his secondary lead
as soon as he sees Harper's head
turn to check on paena Altuve books it
but Harper turns to give him some pats
on the leg and be like hey man y all
good sorry about that that's all
Harper's doing you all good sorry about
that now tuve is like sorry about this
dude scores just a split second of
Harper patting a guy on the leg saying
hey sorry didn't mean to land on you
like that and now a run scores credible
heads up play by Altuve I don't even
know if it's heads down play by Harper
how many times they even have to worry
about that the next pitch got an out so
they just straight up stole a run Altuve
did by heads up baseball maybe Peña
landed his leg under Harper just on
purpose no no it's great it's good B
from Altuve it's brought to you by
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