The Houston Astros are the kings of baseball comedy. They're one of eight franchises without a World Series title and they don't look like breaking that ignominious streak anytime soon. At their current pace, the Astros' batters may become the first to strikeout 1,600 times in a regular season. At 8-24, the Astros are nearing a level of ineptitude not seen since the '62 Mets.
On Sunday night, the Astros got clobbered 17 – 2 by the Detroit Tigers and were on no-hit alert (again, after Yu Darvish nearly threw a perfect game against these guys in April) for six innings against Justin Verlander, but the most embarasssing sequence of the afternoon came in the second inning when the Astros second baseman, Jose Altuve went AWOL and abandoned his post. After getting an infield hit, Hunter noticed the lack of a body on second and decided to collect his reward. The stolen base was his first of the 2013 season.
Altuve's 23rd birthday is on Monday, so maybe his mind was in other places. In his defense, pun intended, Altuve's bat leads Houston's doomed lineup in batting average, hits, RBIs and on-base percentage.
(h/t Larry Brown Sports)
