Dusty Baker Calls Out Players for Botched Double Steal Attempt

The Houston Astros captured a series win over their in-state rival Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, but not before the game went into extra innings. While it was their 88th victory on the season, manager Dusty Baker wasn't thrilled with some of the sloppy play.

Not only did Baker dub this an "ugly win," but he even went as far as calling out his team for a botched double steal attempt in the third inning.

Astros News

With runners on first and second and two outs, Houston's best hitter Yordan Alvarez stepped to the plate. Christian Vazquez and Jose Altuve took off stealing before the Rangers nabbed the lead runner at third.

Baker was not happy about this, even telling reporters that steal attempt "didn't come from" the bench and that the play was "messed up."

Baker said the double steal in the third inning "didn't come from" the bench. "It was messed up."
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 8, 2022

It simply comes down to not taking the bat out of the hands of your best hitter. Alvarez is on an absolute tear in 2022, slashing .289/.393/.581 with 31 home runs and 82 RBIs.

Baker showed that he's unafraid to light a fire under his team when necessary, something that could pay huge dividends in postseason baseball. Those are the type of little mistakes that can cost a team a game in the postseason, or worse, the World Series.

The Astros have every expectation to get back to the World Series for the second straight season, and fourth time in six years. Houston sits 11.0 games up on the Seattle Mariners in the AL West and holds the second-best odds (+410) to win the 2022 World Series on FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.