In a moment reflecting the unpredictable nature of baseball, Houston Astros star Jose Altuve found himself ejected after a bizarre altercation with an umpire during an intense game against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in the top of the ninth inning when Altuve hit a routine grounder to third base. However, he immediately signaled to home plate umpire Brennan Miller, claiming that the ball had hit his foot and should have been ruled a foul.
In a bizarre turn of events, Altuve removed both his cleat and sock to clearly demonstrate that the ball had in fact hit his foot. However, this act did not convince the umpire, who immediately ejected Altuve from the game. Astros manager Joe Espada was also ejected for arguing the call. Replay footage later confirmed that Altuve’s claim was legitimate—the ball had deflected off his foot before heading toward the Padres’ third baseman.
This was not Altuve’s first unusual ejection for a similar reason; a similar incident nearly occurred earlier this season, making it the second time he was thrown out for arguing that a grounder hit his leg.
Despite the oddity of Altuve’s ejection, the Astros won 4-3 in extra innings. They faced further umpire frustration when Houston reliever Hector Neris’ pitch was controversially ruled a hit-by-pitch in the 10th inning, allowing the Padres to put runners on base. However, the Astros held their ground and ended the game with a groundout by Padres star Manny Machado.