Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 675 23: Undercurrents Surging

"Hi, Jose, nice to see you again."

When Lin Guanglai stood on second base again, he greeted Jose Altuve, who was responsible for watching over him, just as he did during his first at-bat.

Although this was the first matchup between Lin Guanglai and the opposing team in a Major League series, it wasn't their first meeting—back at the end of 2014 during the Japan-United States baseball exchange games, the two had competed as opponents, and although their relationship wasn't as close as that of Lin Guanglai and Harper, it was still passable.

This time, however, when Lin Guanglai attempted to strike up a conversation with Altuve, the latter wasn't as jovial as he was when the game first started and the Astros held a big lead; on the contrary, Altuve became serious, sticking close to Lin Guanglai and not moving an inch away.

"Is it really necessary to be this tense, Jose? Are you actually worried that I'll try to steal third base—this is Major League, after all, aren't you underestimating your catcher a bit?" Lin Guanglai roamed back and forth near second base, occasionally teasing the opponent with similar comments.

Altuve still didn't say anything, just rolled his eyes at Lin Guanglai, expressing his mood at the moment in this way; seeing that Altuve wasn't buying into his jibes, Lin Guanglai decided not to continue and refocused on the game.

This highlight matchup where the New York Yankees hosted the Houston Astros had reached the bottom of the ninth inning:

After Lin Guanglai narrowed the gap to 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Astros lineup scored another run in the eighth inning, pushing the lead back to a relatively safer 4-run margin.

In the bottom of the eighth, the lower part of the Yankees' batting order also showed their strength; Brett Gardner, who played as the leadoff hitter today and had 3 hits in 3 at-bats previously, hit a sacrifice fly towards central field with one out and a runner on third, once again helping the Yankees near the 3-run deficit.

As for now, in the first at-bat of the bottom of the ninth inning, Lin Guanglai, in front of more than fifty thousand Yankees fans at Yankee Stadium, hit a double that ignited the rally—a runner on second base with no outs, it's a perfect opportunity for the Yankees to overturn the Astros and achieve a stunning comeback!

Charlie Morton's inexplicable collapse in the middle of the game significantly affected the Astros' bullpen rotation; after all, while their starting pitching lineup is decent, their bullpen doesn't have the same depth as the Yankees—the Astros' manager Hinch surprisingly sent up a pitcher named Dayan Diaz, whose level is barely sufficient for Triple-A, and he occasionally gets hammered.

Altuve's vigilance towards Lin Guanglai was justified because he indeed wanted to try to steal third base:

On one hand, when facing Dayan Diaz in the first at-bat, Lin Guanglai noticed the opponent's high leg lift when pitching, which meant he had more room to steal compared to facing other pitchers;

On the other hand, the Yankees are very familiar with Brian McCann, a veteran who once served the team—although he's a very good teammate and locker room leader, his defensive skills, particularly in critical catching situations, are somewhat worrisome: throughout his career, he's only recorded a +8 defensive contribution value in 2008, while all other seasons were in the negative.

However, Lin Guanglai couldn't ignore the intensity of the Astros' infield defense: whether it's Carlos Correa at second base, Jose Altuve at shortstop, or Alex Bregman at third base, all three are Golden Glove level defenders and have been playing together for a long time, their coordination is very well-tuned, enough to make up for the catcher's slight deficiency in defensive intensity.

Though rare in both Japan and the United States, due to his role as Dual Swordsmanship player, Lin Guanglai seldom risked stealing bases, it doesn't mean his stealing ability wasn't outstanding.

In fact, among players of the same height and weight, Lin Guanglai's athletic ability was definitely among the top group; his timing for executing a steal is at least at Major League's T1.5 level.

Almost the instant Dayan Diaz lifted his foot, Lin Guanglai instinctively took off, sprinting towards third base—the Astros, with early preparation, saw Altuve quickly on the move, also heading toward the vicinity of third base; meanwhile, Bregman at third base was already ready and waiting for the catcher's throw.

Brian McCann, upon receiving the pitch, immediately got up and used his strength, flinging the ball toward third base—as a starting major league catcher, Lin Guanglai's attempt to steal third could certainly be viewed as a challenge, and McCann wanted to show him something in return.

Perhaps due to some burst of potential, McCann's throw to third was exceptionally high quality, akin to a self-aiming hack in an FPS game, flying almost perfectly into Bregman's glove.

Charging towards third base in big strides, Lin Guanglai saw this and didn't care much about anything else; he dove towards the base that was now within arm's reach, straining to stretch his arm forward in a bid to reach the base just ahead of the ball.