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 šĀ
(via @SpaceCityHN) pic.twitter.com/4thx1F7Rpz
ā 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.
āSometimes 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,ā Altuve said.
āIt was going through my head that it canāt happen,ā he added. āItās the ninth inning, winning run on second base, Iām battling against a good pitcher, (Robert) Suarez, the closer, so Iām 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 donāt 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.ā
Espada was still wound up afterward.
āItās a foul ball,ā the manager said. āYou have to see the ball once he hits the foot, the flight of the ball. I donāt get it. I donāt understand. Thatās 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.ā
Kessinger started the 10th as the automatic runner in place of Altuve, advanced on Yordan Alvarezās groundout and scored on Kyle Tuckerās single to left off Adrian Morejon (2-2).
Tuck gives us the lead! pic.twitter.com/oYQyZZFlWBĀ
ā Houston Astros (@astros) September 18, 2024
Astros reliever HƩctor 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 PeƱa to end it.
WHAT A PLAY GRAE KESSINGER!!!𤯠pic.twitter.com/VEfOnH6TFCĀ
ā Houston Astros (@astros) September 18, 2024
It was Kessingerās first game with the Astros since July 13.
āRight before he hit it, I was thinking heās going to hit a ball up the middle and itās going to hit off the mound, and thatās exactly what happened. But go catch it. Thatās the job,ā Kessinger said.
He figured he was going to get into the game after Altuve was tossed.
āAs he started to untie his shoe, I started to grab my glove. I didnāt know if I was the one that was going to be going in, but I didnāt know what he was doing, but I was just getting ready,ā 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 Padresā dugout as he began his trot.
Last week, Machado broke Nate Colbertās 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 PeƱa'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 CƩsar 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.
Adding a player of Kevin Durantās caliber was too valuable an opportunity for the Houston Rockets to pass up, even though it meant moving on from Jalen Green just four seasons after they drafted him second overall.
Durant was officially acquired from Phoenix on Sunday in a complicated seven-team transaction that sent Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns and brought Clint Capela back to Houston from the Hawks.
General manager Rafael Stone is thrilled to add the future Hall of Famer, who will turn 37 in September, to a team which made a huge leap last season to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.
Asked Monday why he wanted to add Durant to the team, Stone smiled broadly before answering.
āHeās Kevin Durant,ā Stone said. āHeās just ā heās really good. Heās super-efficient. He had a great year last year. Heās obviously not 30 anymore, but he hasnāt really fallen off and we just think he has a chance to really be impactful for us.ā
But trading Green to get him was not an easy decision for Stone, Houstonās general manager since 2020.
āJalenās awesome, he did everything we asked,ā Stone said. āHeās a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic along with being just a great human being. And any time that you have the privilege to work with someone who is talented and works really hard and is really nice, you should value it. And organizationally weāve valued him tremendously, so yeah very hard.ā
Green was criticized for his up-and-down play during the postseason when the Rockets were eliminated by the Warriors in seven games in the first round. But Green had improved in each of his four seasons in Houston, leading the team in scoring last season and playing all 82 games in both of the past two seasons.
Pressed for details about why Green's time was up in Houston, Stone wouldn't get into specifics.
āItās the NBA and you can only do trades if a certain amount of money goes out and a certain amount comes in and thereās some positional overlap or at least overlap in terms of on ball presence,ā he said. āAnd so thatās what the deal required.ā
In Durant, the Rockets get a veteran of almost two decades who averaged 26.6 points and six rebounds a game last season and has a career average of 27.2 points and seven rebounds.
Houston loves the veteran experience and presence that Durant brings. Stone noted that the team had arranged for some of its players to work out with him in each of the past two offseasons.
āHis work ethic is just awesome,ā Stone said. āThe speed at which he goes, not in a game ⦠but the speed at which he practices and the intensity at which he practices is something that has made him great over the years and it started when he was very young. So of all the things that I hope rubs off, thatās the main one I think is that practice makes perfect. And I think one of the reasons heās had such an excellent career is because of the intensity with which he works day in day out.ā
Durant is a 15-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion, who was the Finals MVP twice. The former Texas Longhorn is one of eight players in NBA history to score at least 30,000 points and he won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018 with the Warriors.
Now heāll join a team chasing its first NBA title since winning back-to-back championships in 1994-95.
āEverything has to play out, but we do ā we like the fit,ā Stone said. āWe think it works well. We think he will add to us and we think we will help him.ā