Ryan Pressly tips hat to teammate Jose Altuve after costly error: “I was just trying to pick Jose Altuve up. Obviously, he felt terrible"

After making a costly error during the week, some thought Jose Altuve might be blamed for his team, the Houston Astros, possibly failing to make the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Altuve's mistake came during the third inning of the Astros' game against the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 26. After a Josh Rojas flyball was caught by Kyle Tucker, Altuve's relay throw sailed over the head of third baseman Alex Bregman, allowing Seattle to score its first run of the game.

"The Mariners take the lead on a throwing error by Jose Altuve and T-Mobile Park is rocking" - Talkin' Baseball

Coming into the game, the Astros had a mere 0.5 games in hand over the Seattle Mariners in the AL Wild Card race. After surrendering the first run, the Astros were unable to recover, and fell by a score of 6-2 to their divisional counterparts.

However, after winning the rubber match on Thursday to take a 2-1 victory in the series, the Astros headed to Chase Field to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

After a late two-run double from Jose Abreu, closer Ryan Pressly came into the game to try and close out the deal for the Astros. However, Pressly surrendered an RBI double to catcher Gabriel Moreno, putting the D-Backs within one. Luckily for the Astros, Pressly was able to get Jace Peterson to ground out, ending the game. In his postgame interview, Pressly paid homage to Jose Altuve, who was spared the goat horns on account of the win:

“I was just trying to pick Jose [Altuve] up. Obviously, he felt terrible,” Ryan Pressly said.

With their win, the Houston Astros pulled within one more win of clinching a playoff spot. With a record of 88-72, the team now stands a full game ahead of the Mariners with just two games left in the regular season.

Jose Altuve and Ryan Pressly will be big parts of Astros' postseason run

It now appears as though the Astros have a great chance of making it to the postseason once again. Although they will go in as a Wild Card, having names like Jose Altuve and Ryan Pressly helps their odds significantly.

Despite not claiming the AL's best record as they did last season, the Astros are still an extremely potent offensive threat. It remains to be seen if they will be able to draw from their wealth of playoff experience to recreate the magic of 2022 again in 2023.