Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve reacts to his second MLB ejection

Altuve was batting with runners on second and third and two outs in the top of the seventh inning when he swung at a pitch and appeared to foul off his left foot. The ball continued into fair territory and New York third baseman Mark Vientos fielded it and threw it to first base.

The umpires tossed Altuve out. Astros manager Joe Espada asked the umpiring crew to discuss the call. After a meeting, the team upheld the call. Altuve slammed his helmet and bat on the ground and was ejected.

“I think that’s why I was a little angry, because the important situation of the game and the situation that we find ourselves in as a team, trying to win certain games, we don’t want to Really things like this happen,” Altuve said.

When asked what explanation he received, Altuve replied, “They didn’t see it.”

MLB rules allow review of fair/foul calls only on balls that land at or beyond where the first or third base umpire is positioned.

Espada said his argument involves “multiple things.”

“At least from my perspective, it looks like the ball hit him,” Espada said. “The ball took a different direction once it hit the ground toward Vientos. And if there’s anybody that’s going to come out of the box (with runners on the field) at second and third base and beat a ball to first base, it’s Jose Altuve. So if he’s arguing, that ball hit him, and it looks like the ball hit him toward me.”

Altuve continued to bark at the umpires after his ejection and was restrained by bench coach Omar Lopez, who led him back to the Astros’ dugout. Altuve’s only previous ejection in the majors came in 2016 for arguing a called third strike.

“I think the game gives you a lot of emotion, adrenaline,” Altuve said. “And I understand that the umpire behind the plate didn’t see it because the catcher is there. But there are three other guys – the first, the second and the third. I felt like it was pretty obvious. That’s why I was so angry. »