Astros' Jose Altuve has jersey ripped off as he hits walk-off home run vs. Yankees

HOUSTON – Sunday was Jose Altuve jersey day at Minute Maid Park, and the Houston Astros second baseman wound up losing his shirt in the end.

His giddy teammates ripped it off his back after Altuve trotted home with another stunning, game-winning homer against the New York Yankees, completing a shocking 8-7 Houston win before 37,928 fans. 

For the visitors, this three-run shot wasn’t as deflating as Altuve’s pennant-winning, walk-off blast to end the 2019 AL Championship Series, but it badly stung the Yankees, who took a five-run lead into the ninth.

The Yankees were two outs away from a three-game sweep when Altuve sent them into the All-Star break with a devastating loss.

This time, it was Chad Green – not Aroldis Chapman – who threw the hanging breaking pitch that Altuve golfed over the left field wall.

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And it was nice payback for Aaron Judge’s trolling of Altuve one night earlier.

Belting a solo homer that stood up, thanks to Gerrit Cole’s brilliance in Saturday’s 1-0 win, Judge tugged his jersey closed with both hands.

It was a move that appeared to be a mocking reference to Altuve’s actions as he rounded third on his pennant-winning homer.

Judge offered a deadpanned response: "Whenever they keep the roof closed here, it's pretty chilly. So, I was just letting my team know to button up a bit.’’

After sending the Astros to the 2019 World Series, Altuve did not want his teammates to tear off his jersey – a reaction that sparked suspicion that Altuve was wearing some sort of wired device to let him know what type of pitch was coming. 

And after the Astros’ electronic sign-stealing scheme was revealed, with MLB punishing them for transgressions in 2017 and 2018, the Yankees suspected some form of cheating was still happening in 2019.

Martin Moldonado also appeared to respond to Judge on Sunday, pulling down his shirt as he rounded the bases after a home run in the third inning.

Altuve was 0-for-4 Sunday before his homer off Green, working the ninth inning with Jonathan Loaisiga on the COVID injured list and Chapman working through delivery issues. 

Jameson Taillon was on the verge of winning his fourth consecutive start and the Yankees – who drew 14 walks but left 14 runners on base – still seemed destined to finish a 5-1 trip that started at Seattle.

In the eighth, Gary Sanchez – in a 1-for-28 slide – belted a three-run homer that gave the Yankees a 7-2 lead.

Yankees pitchers held the Astros scoreless for the first 20 innings of this series, until Maldonado’s solo homer.

Taillon yielded a solo homer to Kyle Tucker in the sixth, the only two runs allowed by the right-hander in his six innings.

Domingo German pitched two scoreless innings but gave up two hits to start the ninth and Green retired just one of the five batters he faced.

Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. Email: caldera@northjersey.com Twitter: @pcaldera