Dodgers: Jose Altuve striking out 4 times was icing on victory cake

The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ two-game series against the Houston Astros was important for numerous reasons.

For starters, it was a matchup between two of the best teams in MLB, and the Dodgers were looking to keep pace with the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

As things stand, the Giants hold a 3.5-game lead over Los Angeles for the division lead.

More noteworthy, though, is that this was the first time Dodgers fans have been able to collectively jeer the Astros inside a packed Dodger Stadium since Houston’s sign-stealing operation sent shockwaves around the league.

It goes without saying Jose Altuve remains one of the faces of the scandal, and Dodgers fans had the luxury of watching one of the worst performances of his career on Wednesday night.

In a game Los Angeles ultimately won 7-5, Altuve was given the rare golden sombrero, as he struck out four times, with the fourth coming in an embarrassing at-bat in the eighth inning vs Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, who was clearly out to prove a point.

Jose Altuve striking out four times capped a perfect night for the Dodgers.

Given the crowd’s reaction, you would think the game ended with that strikeout. Nope. Fans simply loathe Altuve after he and the Astros cheated their way to a championship against the Dodgers back in 2017… and showed next to no remorse after they were caught.

While the Astros visited Dodger Stadium last season, it came at a point when fans weren’t permitted inside the ballpark amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, LA fans had a lot of pent-up energy and vitriol waiting to unleash in the Astros’ direction.

To say they answered the call would be an understatement, because they celebrated Altuve’s fourth strikeout like the Dodgers just won the pennant. That tells you how much they detest the Astros, and how important it was that Los Angeles pulled out the victory.

It would be wrong not to shower Max Scherzer, who picked quite the night to make his home debut as a Dodger, with some praise here, too. After all, the three-time Cy Young winner allowed just five hits and two runs, to go with 10 strikeouts over seven innings of work.

Scherzer was responsible for three of Altuve’s strikeouts, so credit to the Dodgers’ deadline acquisition for helping fans air their grievances in the best way possible.

The victory doesn’t taste as sweet since the Dodgers settled for a series split, but Altuve embarrassing himself on a national stage was one heck of a silver lining.

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