The Astros star got into a heated argument with home plate umpire Brennan Miller during the ninth inning of the club's 4-3 win at Petco Park. Altuve took issue with Miller's call of a swinging groundout that the second baseman insisted was a foul ball off his left foot.
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Altuve would have gotten another chance to register a hit had Miller called the foul ball. But the umpire went with the third-out grounder call that ended the Astros' opportunity to pull ahead in a 3-3 ball game in the high-stakes matchup.
Game telecast replays showed the ball clipping off Altuve's big toe, which was something that the former American League MVP got ready to show Miller. As Astros manager Joe Espada came out to argue with Miller, Altuve took off his left cleat and sock and touched the ballfield dirt with a barefoot. Miller took a look, paused a second, and sent Altuve to the clubhouse early. Miller also tossed Espada, becoming the latest Astros dugout coach to face ejection in three straight games.
Sports TV personality and 'Stros pitcher Justin Verlander's brother, Ben Verlander, also took issue, mainly because Miller was allowed to ask his fellow umpires for a second opinion, which he declined to do.
How did Altuve explain his act?
"Sometimes 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," Altuve said.
Espada stood up for Altuve.
"It's a foul ball," the manager said. "You have to see the ball once he hits the foot, the flight of the ball. I don't get it. I don't understand. That'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."
In a bit of irony, infielder Grae Kessinger came off the bench to replace Altuve at second base, affording him the position of the unearned runner on second to start the top of the 10th inning. Not only did he score the go-ahead run off a balk and a Kyle Tucker RBI, but Kessinger registered the game-saving final out by collecting Manny Machado's sharply hit ball with bases loaded in time to get the out at second.
"As he started to untie his shoe, I started to grab my glove. I didn't know if I was the one that was going to be going in, but I didn't know what he was doing, but I was just getting ready," Kessinger said about Altuve's ejection.
The victory was huge for the AL West-leading Astros. Along with a Seattle loss, Houston enters Wednesday's series finale with San Diego with a magic number of seven to clinch another division crown.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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