Astros Get the Win, But Jose Altuve Involved in Scary Collision
The Houston Astros defeated the Cleveland Indians 4-2 on Tuesday, in what could be a potential American League Division Series matchup. However, the game could also have ended in complete disaster after Jose Altuve and Teoscar Hernandez collided.
The Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel tossed a 117-pitch complete game allowing the reigning AL Champion Cleveland Indians to get just two runs on six hits.
The two runs came on home runs by Austin Jackson in the first inning and Michael Brantley in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Astros scored four runs, three in the fifth and one in the top of the ninth.
That top of the ninth inning run on an RBI by Josh Reddick was much needed after what happened in the eighth inning. It was enough to make anyone, Astros' fan or not, scream in terror.
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Two Houston Astros players were forced to leave the game after a very scary collision in the outfield during the bottom of the eighth inning.
They weren't just any two Astros either. It's not that one player's health is more important than another but in this case, it pretty much was.
Playing in his first big league game of 2017, Astros' prospect Teoscar Hernandez, who had just been called up earlier in the day, was put into the game as a defensive substitute in right field for Carlos Beltran in the eighth.
He and superstar second baseman, four-time all-star and two-time batting champion Jose Altuve, both went for the same pop up in shallow right field. The collision between the two cannot even be described in words but you can watch it here:
Hernandez had to be carted off the field. Altuve was able to leave the field on his own but the collision looked so scary that it appeared that the careers of both players may be in jeopardy.
Altuve injured his shoulder and may not play in the second game in the series, still it wasn't anything too serious.
He was also tested for a concussion and the results were luckily negative. However, it's happened before that concussion symptoms have surfaced for other players days or even weeks after an incident like this one.
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While Altuve is in the clear for now. The Astros will have to continue to watch him closely.
Yet with the preliminary results of Altuve's tests being positives, Astros fans can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.
Altuve is the face of the Astros and losing him for any period of time could prevent Houston from having the chance to bring home the first ever World Series trophy to the state of Texas.
Hernandez was diagnosed with a bone contusion so luckily both players seemed to make it through the incident ok.
"Nasty collision, both guys going 100 percent after the ball," manager A.J. Hinch said. "That's a scary scene. It was an all-around good game, except for the collision."
The Astros' skipper was right. It was a good game but it wouldn't have been had Altuve or even Hernandez had been seriously injured.
You definitely wouldn't know that both would be alright by watching the collision, but thankfully for the Houston Astros they both seemingly are.