FREAKY FINISH!

Astros beat the Padres 4-3 in 10 innings after wild scene in the 9th

Astros Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Hunter Brown
Jose Altuve was ejected in the ninth inning. Composite Getty Image.

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.

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.

ā€œSometimes 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.

ā€œIt was going through my head that it canā€™t happen,ā€ he added. ā€œItā€™s the ninth inning, winning run on second base, Iā€™m battling against a good pitcher, (Robert) Suarez, the closer, so Iā€™m 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 donā€™t 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.

ā€œItā€™s a foul ball,ā€ the manager said. ā€œYou have to see the ball once he hits the foot, the flight of the ball. I donā€™t get it. I donā€™t understand. Thatā€™s 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 Alvarezā€™s groundout and scored on Kyle Tuckerā€™s single to left off Adrian Morejon (2-2).

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.

It was Kessingerā€™s first game with the Astros since July 13.

ā€œRight before he hit it, I was thinking heā€™s going to hit a ball up the middle and itā€™s going to hit off the mound, and thatā€™s exactly what happened. But go catch it. Thatā€™s the job,ā€ Kessinger said.

He figured he was going to get into the game after Altuve was tossed.

ā€œAs he started to untie his shoe, I started to grab my glove. I didnā€™t know if I was the one that was going to be going in, but I didnā€™t 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 Colbertā€™s 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 CĆ©sar 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.

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Rockets defeat the Warriors, 91-90. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90 on Wednesday night to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.

Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, in the semifinals on Saturday.

Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points.

Houston led by 14 before falling behind late to set up the thrilling finish.

Houston trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead to one.

Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, but Green intercepted his pass and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to set up the winning free throws.

The Warriors had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemskiā€™s 3-point attempt.

Takeaways

Warriors: Golden State beat the Rockets twice this season without Curry before losing Wednesday in a game where he had 19 points.

Rockets: This young team showed poise in finishing this one after squandering a double-digit lead.

Key moment

Greenā€™s hustle on getting the ball late to draw the foul to set up the winning free throws.

Key stat

Houston won despite making just 6 of 27 3-pointers.

Up next

While Houston heads to Las Vegas this weekend, the Warriors will return to regular-season play Sunday at Dallas.

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