{"id":47043,"date":"2025-04-06T11:32:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T11:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=47043"},"modified":"2025-04-06T11:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T11:32:56","slug":"jose-altuves-candid-admission-on-hitting-approach-after-astros-loss-vs-twins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=47043","title":{"rendered":"Jose Altuve’s candid admission on hitting approach after Astros’ loss vs. Twins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ legend Jose Altuve has built a career on putting the bat on the ball better than just about anyone in the modern era. But on Thursday afternoon at Target Field, the Astros second-baseman-turned-left-fielder experienced a first\u2026and not a good one.<\/p>\n

For the first time in his 15-year MLB career, Altuve struck out five times in a single game. The moment was so unusual that even Darren McCaughan, the Twins reliever who sealed Altuve\u2019s fate in the ninth inning, was caught off guard by the intensity of the crowd reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figured the crowd was going crazy for a reason,\u201d McCaughan said. \u201cI saw him strike out a few times. I didn\u2019t know the exact number on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the Astros holding a comfortable 5-2 lead late in the game, fans at the Twins\u2019 home opener came alive for a rare spectacle \u2014 Altuve swinging and missing. The former MVP entered the game with a career strikeout rate of just 12.8%, and only two previous four-strikeout games on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. But Twins pitching had his number.<\/p>\n

Twins beat Astros as Jose Altuve lets his bat swing wild<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Jose
Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Starter Joe Ryan got Altuve twice with sweepers early, and reliever Jorge Alcala blew a 99 mph fastball past him for a fourth K in the seventh. Then came McCaughan, a 29-year-old journeyman with only a handful of big-league innings to his name, stepping into the ninth with the crowd behind him.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFirst time I haven\u2019t been able to hear the PitchCom out there,\u201d McCaughan said. \u201cThat was kind of new.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

McCaughan got ahead 0-2 quickly. Altuve battled, taking it to a full count, but on the seventh pitch, McCaughan landed a sinker on the outside edge. Altuve froze, the umpire rang him up, and strikeout No. 5 was in the books.<\/p>\n

After the game, Altuve kept it real: \u201cI like swinging,\u201d he said via Chandler Rome on X. \u201cSometimes I try to swing at my pitch, sometimes I swing at everything.\u201d Honesty like that is rare \u2014 and fitting. Altuve\u2019s aggressiveness at the plate has long been both his weapon and his occasional weakness. On Thursday, it tilted heavily toward the latter.<\/p>\n

Still, the Astros won, and as rough as the individual performance looked, Altuve isn\u2019t likely to dwell too long. He\u2019s been one of the most consistent hitters of his generation, and five strikeouts \u2014 even if it\u2019s a first \u2014 don\u2019t erase that. McCaughan, meanwhile, may never forget the moment. Not only did he silence one of baseball\u2019s best, but he also delivered a memory to 36,000 roaring Twins fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted [the 2-2 pitch], but I think it was a ball,\u201d McCaughan said postgame. \u201cThree-two, I don\u2019t know. Looked good to me.\u201d Ball or strike, it was a win for McCaughan, a loss for Altuve\u2019s stat line, and a strange, loud chapter in a long MLB career.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Astros took a loss to the Twins on Saturday, Jose Altuve didn’t have his best day of at the plate, striking out five times in a game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[287,348,77,44],"class_list":["post-47043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-houston-astros","tag-jose-altuve","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nJose Altuve's candid admission on hitting approach after Astros' loss vs. Twins - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=47043\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jose Altuve's candid admission on hitting approach after Astros' loss vs. Twins - 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