Watch: Kessinger Makes Winning Play for Houston Astros After Altuve Ejection

The Houston Astros had a wacky ending to their game on Tuesday night after Jose Altuve was ejected.

Gerry Angus-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros claimed a 4-3 extra inning victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night to get to 82-69 and extend their lead in the AL West to five games over Seattle, but the way things finished were far from routine in San Diego.

Astros superstar second baseman José Altuve was ejected in the ninth inning during a tie game after a ground out to third base which he argued hit off his foot before trickling into fair territory, but the umpire did not see it that way. With two outs in the top of the ninth and the game being tied 3-3, it was a huge play to the point where an incorrect call could have severely impacted the result of the game.

Altuve hilariously took off both his shoe and his sock to point to the umpire where he hit the ball off his foot, at which point the umpire ejected him and Houston had to head to the bottom of the ninth both without Altuve and without any potential production that would have resulted from his ninth inning at bat:

Jose Altuve took off his sock and cleat to show the ump that he fouled this ball off his foot

He was promptly ejected pic.twitter.com/wtGGsdWdyL

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 18, 2024

That brought Grae Kessinger into the game at second base, who had not played since mid-July. Kessinger made a huge impact both on the base paths and in the field, scoring as the ghost runner on a Kyle Tucker leadoff single in the top of the 10th before a game winning play in the bottom half.

Clinging to a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the tenth with the bases loaded and Manny Machado up to the plate with two outs, Kessinger made an incredible sliding play on a ground ball up the middle and tossed it to second to end the game. Had Kessinger let the ball go by, two runs likely score and the Padres would have won the game:

BALLGAME!

What a play by Grae Kessinger to secure an @Astros win.

(GEICO x MLB) pic.twitter.com/pgiTfeR9D9

— MLB (@MLB) September 18, 2024

Kessinger was called up in June of 2023 and recorded 8 hits in his 40 at bats last season while filling in for the injured Altuve. This season, he has only had 15 at bats for the and has yet to record a hit. Despite that fact, he has officially now made his mark on 2024 with clutch base running and defense to help Houston win a big September ballgame.