Game 1 turns on Carter's grab, Altuve's gaffe

HOUSTON -- When Alex Bregman smashed a ball deep to left field in the eighth inning Sunday night, the frenzied fans at Minute Maid Park leaped out of their seats and braced for a comeback home run off Aroldis Chapman they’ve seen before.

Instead, Rangers rookie outfielder Evan Carter leaped for a tremendous catch at the nook right next to the Crawford Boxes, then threw out Jose Altuve following a costly baserunning blunder.

The rollercoaster play shaped the Rangers’ 2-0 win in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

When Bregman came to the plate in the eighth, the Astros’ win probability was 23 percent, according to the FanGraphs win probability tool.

If his Statcast-projected 365-foot liner had gone a little to the left into the Crawford Boxes or had a little more oomph, Houston would have had a 62 percent win probability. A double off the wall, where it reads 366, would have likely scored Altuve and put a runner at second with no outs.

“That double play was excellent. It was the play that sealed the game,” Chapman said. “... It practically ended the game right there.”

After Carter’s catch, Altuve went past second base and didn’t touch the bag on his way back to first and thus was called out after an appeal and umpire review, making it a double play. At this point, the Astros had no runners on and two outs in the eighth, and their win probability dropped to just 9%.

MLB rule 5.06(b)(1) states: In advancing, a runner shall touch first, second, third and home base in order. If forced to return, he shall retouch all bases in reverse order, unless the ball is dead under any provision of Rule 5.06(c). In such cases, the runner may go directly to his original base.

Credit Carter, who ranged to his left and navigated the corner of the Crawford Boxes to make a sensational grab, adjusting his glove in midair to snag the ball hit at a 103.2 mph exit velocity.

“It’s kind of funky to run around the wall right there,” Carter said in a postgame interview on the FOX broadcast. “I was hoping it wouldn’t go over. If it had been a few feet to the left, it would have been. It played in our favor right there, and I just tried to play a tough wall.”

“I thought the ball was over his head,” Altuve said. “I didn’t think he was going to make the play he made. It was a great play, and I tried to get back to first.”

Carter, a rookie, was playing in his first career game at Minute Maid Park, a tricky ballpark for left fielders due to the extended Crawford Boxes.

But before the game, veteran outfielders Robbie Grossman -- who played for the Astros -- and Travis Jankowski -- who manned left field in several games for Texas this season at Minute Maid Park -- took the youngster to left and taught him a few things, tossing balls off the wall to show him the ricochets.

“[They were] showing me the ropes, like, ‘Hey, this is how this plays. This is where I would set up at,’” Carter said. “Obviously, Robbie played here for a while, so he knows, and he's been out there. I'm going to trust what he has to say, and it was a big help for me.”

Marcus Semien’s veteran savvy finished off the play. Carter said he wasn’t aware that Altuve hadn’t touched second, instead just trying to get the ball back in. The Rangers went over the play once in Spring Training, as an example for both baserunners and infielders.

Semien had kept it in his mind ever since. The second baseman said he makes sure to always watch what the runner does in those situations because the middle-infield umpire tends to look at the ball instead of the bag.

“That’s exactly what [the umpire] told me,” Semien said. “He said he was looking at the ball. He didn’t see it. So I tried to remind him. He still called it safe, and luckily, it’s a play that we can review.

“I’ve made that mistake before on the bases. It’s one that we go over in Spring Training, and all of a sudden, in the ALCS, it came to.”

Altuve said he didn’t know he hadn’t touched the base until the review, but he admitted to the error.

“I didn’t touch the base again. That’s what happened,” Altuve said. “... I thought it was over Carter’s head. I think he made an amazing play. I’m not putting any excuses, but I think he did a really good play.”