FREAKY FINISH!
Astros beat the Padres 4-3 in 10 innings after wild scene in the 9th
Sep 18, 2024, 7:37 am
FREAKY FINISH!
Moments after Jose Altuve was ejected for taking off his left cleat and sock trying to prove a point, his replacement, Grae Kessinger scored the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and then made a sensational play at second base to seal the Houston Astros' wild 4-3 win against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Jose Altuve was ejected after taking off his sock and cleat to show where the ball hit him đ
(via @SpaceCityHN) pic.twitter.com/4thx1F7Rpz
â FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 18, 2024
Altuve grounded out to third for the final out of the ninth but insisted he had fouled the ball off his foot. In a crazy scene, he took off his cleat and sock, trying to show the umpires where the ball hit, which got him ejected by plate umpire Brennan Miller. Manager Joe Espada was tossed after continuing to argue.
âSometimes you get hit somewhere in the hand and you take your batting glove to show you got hit. I was expecting to do the same thing,â Altuve said.
âIt was going through my head that it canât happen,â he added. âItâs the ninth inning, winning run on second base, Iâm battling against a good pitcher, (Robert) Suarez, the closer, so Iâm obviously trying to get a hit and drive the run in and win the game. I get a foul ball because it hit my foot and they just took it away from me. I donât think that can happen. There are four guys on the field and you can see the change of direction on the ball. Just make the right call.â
Espada was still wound up afterward.
âItâs a foul ball,â the manager said. âYou have to see the ball once he hits the foot, the flight of the ball. I donât get it. I donât understand. Thatâs twice this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work hard. But there are four out there. You have to be able to see it. They missed that call.â
Kessinger started the 10th as the automatic runner in place of Altuve, advanced on Yordan Alvarezâs groundout and scored on Kyle Tuckerâs single to left off Adrian Morejon (2-2).
Tuck gives us the lead! pic.twitter.com/oYQyZZFlWB
â Houston Astros (@astros) September 18, 2024
Astros reliever Héctor Neris loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th before getting Manny Machado to ground into a force play on a terrific backhanded stop by Kessinger, who flipped the ball to shortstop Jeremy Peña to end it.
WHAT A PLAY GRAE KESSINGER!!!đ€Ż pic.twitter.com/VEfOnH6TFC
â Houston Astros (@astros) September 18, 2024
It was Kessingerâs first game with the Astros since July 13.
âRight before he hit it, I was thinking heâs going to hit a ball up the middle and itâs going to hit off the mound, and thatâs exactly what happened. But go catch it. Thatâs the job,â Kessinger said.
He figured he was going to get into the game after Altuve was tossed.
âAs he started to untie his shoe, I started to grab my glove. I didnât know if I was the one that was going to be going in, but I didnât know what he was doing, but I was just getting ready,â Kessinger said.
The Padres twice rallied to tie the game, first at 2-2 on Machado's 27th homer with one out in the sixth and at 3-3 in the eighth when Fernando Tatis Jr. scored on Josh Hader's two-out wild pitch.
Hader (8-7) came on to boos and was called for a pitch clock violation. After a lengthy delay it was announced there was no violation. Hader then threw a wild pitch that brought in Tatis.
Hader was with the Padres from the 2022 trade deadline through last year before leaving as a free agent. He drew the ire of San Diego fans when he said late last season that he was reluctant to get more than three outs.
Neris earned his 18th save.
The Padres failed to add to their wild-card lead over Arizona and remained 3 1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the NL West.
Machado admired his 405-foot homer for several seconds, tossed his bat aside and gestured toward the Padresâ dugout as he began his trot.
Last week, Machado broke Nate Colbertâs 50-year-old club record of 163 homers and now has 165 in his six seasons with the Padres.
Hunter Brown had retired nine straight batters before Tatis hit a leadoff single two batters ahead of Machado.
The Astros took a 3-2 lead in the eventful eighth. Alvarez doubled into the right-center gap with one out, advanced on a balk by Jason Adams while Kyle Tucker was batting and scored on Adams' wild pitch that put Alex Bregman on with a walk.
The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Singles by Tucker and Bregman put runners on first and second before Jon Singleton lofted an opposite-field blooper to left for a run-scoring double. Jeremy Peña's groundout brought in Bregman.
Brown allowed two runs and five hits in six innings.
King struck out seven in seven innings. He was charged with two runs and five hits.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: Placed OF Ben Gamel on the 10-day injured list with a broken left leg three days after he ran into the wall at Angel Stadium while making a running catch. Gamel will be out indefinitely. C César Salazar was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Padres: Luis Arraez was back at DH despite jamming a knee into home plate while being thrown out Monday night.
UP NEXT
Astros LHP Framber Valdez (14-6, 2.91 ERA) and Padres RHP Dylan Cease (13-11, 3.58 ERA) are scheduled to start on Wednesday.
The Houston Astros closed out a powerful homestand with a statement series win over the Cubs, led by the continued emergence of Cam Smith and the lockdown stuff of Bryan Abreu. Smith, who seems to live for high-leverage moments, went toe-to-toe with Kyle Tucker and delivered again and again, further cementing his place in Houstonâs growing offensive core. Meanwhile, Abreu was simply untouchableâstriking out all four batters he faced in a lights-out appearance on Thursday and returning Sunday to toss two scoreless innings in front of Josh Haderâs 23rd straight save. The bullpen continues to impress.
As Houston heads west for a six-game road trip, starting with the Rockies and ending with the Dodgers, the rotation will remain under the microscope. On paper, the Rockies series should be a tune-upâColorado owns the worst record in baseball. But even in a small three-game set, anything can happen. The Dodgers are a different animal entirely. Theyâve been the class of the National League and pose a challenge that may mirror what the Astros saw from the Phillies and Cubsâbut this time, Houston wonât have the advantage of home field. Considering the teamâs elite pitching and recent play, the Astros should still feel confident, but theyâll need to prove they can sustain this level on the road.
Trade speculation is beginning to swirl, particularly around Baltimoreâs Cedric Mullins. Mullins hasnât lit it up this seasonâheâs hitting just .213âbut his 12 home runs suggest some underlying pop. Houston may believe there's untapped potential in his swing that can be unlocked. It's a move that would fit the Astrosâ track record: buying low on a talented player and letting their system do the rest.
Speaking of roster decisions, Christian Walker's bat is officially on watch. Despite showing flashes of life earlier this season, Walker hit just .221 in June and has been dropped to seventh in the lineup. Meanwhile, Jon Singleton has been crushing home runs in Sugar Land and waiting patiently for another big-league shot. The organization has to be thinking about giving Singleton a chance if Walkerâs struggles continue.
But not every question has an immediate answer. Lance McCullers Jr.âs return from the injured list was rocky at best, surrendering eight runs in a short outing. Still, the reaction from fans calling for his release is premature at best and delusional at worst. Joe Espada left him in too long, and everyone knew it. It's still June, and McCullers is a proven postseason arm. Heâs not going anywhere, not with that contractâand frankly, not with the upside he still offers.
More to the story
Then there's Jeremy Peña. The hope was that his sore ribs were nothing serious. That changed after the homestand, when further imaging revealed a small fracture and landed Peña on the 10-day IL. Itâs a frustrating development, but credit the Astrosâ medical staff for pushing for clarityâlearning from the Yordan Alvarez situation this year. With superagent Scott Boras now representing him, it appeared negotiations were over. But Astros GM Dana Brown revealed on the pregame show this weekend that heâs already reached back out to Boras to reopen the conversation. Whether both sides can agree to new terms is a different story.
So while the Astros leave home riding a wave of momentum, the road ahead holds tougher matchups, key roster questions, and new injury concerns. Theyâve shown theyâre built to weather all of it. Now theyâll have to prove it.
There's so much more to get to! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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