The Houston Astros are in the Bronx to take on the Yankees in a three-game set. As is always the case when Houston is in town, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve were routinely booed by Yankees fans. New York was just one of the victims of Houston's 2017 sign-stealing scandal, and many Yankees fans still believes the Astros used buzzers under their jerseys to defeat New York.
It's been nearly a decade since Houston won that World Series. Many of the players from that team are no longer on the roster. Yet, with Correa's trade back to the Astros at the deadline, Yankees fans can't help but revive some of that October, uh, angst for their three-game series. Thus far, though, both Correa and Altuve have responded well to the Yankee Stadium atmosphere, and the fans who would prefer to see them punished for their transgressions eight years ago.
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Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa respond to Yankees jeers with their bats
Correa and the Astros pounced on Devin Williams during Houston's win over the Yankees on Friday night. Joe Espada credited Correa for providing the Astros with some key scouting information.
“Going over Williams today in the hitters’ meeting, Carlos brought some really good pointers on Williams and his approach and how we should approach him,” manager Joe Espada said. “So I felt really good with him coming to the plate about him facing Williams.”
Williams pitched the tenth inning, and threw a fastball to the backstop, which allowed Altuve to advance to third base as the automatic runner. Correa then ripped a single to center, knowing Williams' best pitch, the changeup, was coming.
“I knew he was not going to go back to it,” Correa said of the fastball. “He threw me a really good [changeup] 1-1, and then I had to adjust. I knew I had to extend through the zone in order for me to get it elevated. And that’s what I did.”
Jose Altuve shut down Yankees fans on Sunday
Altuve is booed pretty much anywhere he goes, but especially at Yankee Stadium. However, Altuve got the last laugh on Sunday afternoon, when he hit his 250th home run, making history in the process. Altuve became the 25th player to hit 250 home runs and steal just as many bases. He's only the second active player to reach that mark, joining Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians.
The veteran second baseman only added to his Cooperstown credential with his home run on Sunday, and it happened in front of 30,000+ fans who hate his guts. While Altuve will be judged harshly due to the sign-stealing scandal when he's up for induction, Sunday served as just another reminder of why he's Hall-of-Fame bound, whether Yankees fans like him or not.