SAN DIEGO — Moments after Jose Altuve was ejected for removing his left cleats and sock in an attempt to prove a point, replacement Glare Kessinger scored the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and then made a sensational play at second base to lead the Houston Astros to a thumping 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Altuve got the final out in the bottom of the ninth on a grounder to third base, but claimed the ball was foul off his foot.
He made the odd move by taking off his cleats and socks to try to show the umpire where the ball had hit him, but was ejected by plate umpire Brennan Miller.
Manager Joe Espada was fired due to continued controversy.
“Sometimes when you get hit on any part of your hand, you take off your batting gloves to show that you caught the ball, and I was going to do the same thing,” Altuve said.
“That was going through my mind,” he added. “Top of the ninth, runner on second, winning the game, and they have a great pitcher in (Robert) Suarez, their closer. So obviously I was trying to get a hit, score a run and win the game. It hit me on the foot, it was a foul ball, and they took it away. That's not going to happen. There are four guys on the field, and you can see the ball has changed direction. I just have to make the right decision.”
Espada was still excited afterwards.
“It was a foul ball,” the manager said. “You have to see the ball's trajectory when it hits your foot. I don't get it. I don't get it. This is the second time this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work so hard. But there's four umpires out there. They have to see the ball. They missed that call.”
Kessinger started in place of Altuve in the 10th inning as an automatic runner, advanced on a grounder by Yordan Alvarez and scored on a Kyle Tucker single to left field by Adrian Morejon (2-2).
Astros reliever Hector Neris loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but then got Manny Machado to hit into a force play and Kessinger made a great backhanded stop to throw the ball to shortstop Jeremy Peña to end the game.
For Kessinger, it was his first game with the Astros since July 13.
“Right before he hit it, I thought he was going to hit the ball up the middle and it was going to go off the mound, and that's exactly what happened, but you go get the ball, that's your job,” Kessinger said.
He figured he'd be able to play after Altuve was ejected.
“As he started to untie his shoelaces, I started to grab my gloves. I didn't know if I was going to go in or what he was going to do, but I was just getting ready,” Kessinger said.
The Padres were unable to extend their wild-card lead over the Diamondbacks and Mets and remain 3 1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the National League West.
