HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve was more than happy to help when a fan ran onto the field and asked the Houston second baseman star to take a selfie with him during Game 2 of the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees on Thursday night.
Minute Maid Park security had other plans and struggled the man away from Altuve before he could finish the shot with his cell phone as the ninth inning started.
“He kind of hugged me and said something like, ‘Okay, we better win today because I spent all my money on the ticket,'” Altuve said. “He took his phone out of his pocket and tried to take a selfie, and I was ready to take it, but then the security guys got there and did their job.”
A group of six guards and police officers pulled the man away before wrestling him to the ground, handcuffing him and escorting him off the field. An Astros spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press that the man had been arrested.
Altuve, who has struggled this postseason and is 0 to 23, said he was not alarmed to see the fan coming his way because he was wearing the right gear.
“I saw someone running and I said, ‘Astros jersey; I’m fine,” Altuve said of the man’s white Craig Biggio shirt.
Altuve added that the man kept repeating that Houston should win on Thursday. Altuve said to him, “We will.”
And minutes after the man was led off the field, they took a 3-2 win that gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Astros manager Dusty Baker said he didn’t notice the fan on the field “until the crowd started going crazy”.
“I mean, what he did was wrong, but he looked harmless. It seemed he did it out of love and respect for Altuve. And I think Altuve handled it very well.”
Houston reliever Ryan Pressly had just got into the game to start the ninth when the interruption happened.
“You hate to see that happen because Pressly was ready and he had to back off and regroup because when you get out of the bullpen and they play that song, his song, you kind of get into a flow of things “You take your warm-up pitches, and then you’re good to go,” Baker said.
“So that broke that. But he’s been around for a long time and he’s handled it well,” he said.
Pressly struckout three batters and walked around two outs to earn his second save of the series.
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