Jose Altuve takes off his shoe, gets ejected

SAN DIEGO — Shoeless Joe? Nope, that’s Shoeless Jose.

In a moment that punctuated a wild Tuesday night at Petco Park, Astros star second baseman Jose Altuve was ejected after he ripped off his cleat and his sock to plead his case to plate umpire Brennan Miller. Altuve argued that he had fouled a ball off his foot in the ninth inning of the Astros’ 4-3 victory over the Padres in 10 innings.

The play, which wasn’t reviewable, was ruled a 5-3 putout and was the final out of the inning, stranding the go-ahead runner at second base. Altuve briefly hobbled after hitting the ball and didn’t run to first base as the Padres threw him out.

“It was a foul ball,” Altuve said. “It was obvious. I just wanted my at-bat against [Robert] Suarez. I know he’s great, but I wanted to keep battling against him.”

Altuve immediately argued the call, and manager Joe Espada ran out to plead his case, as well. But when it became clear the ruling was not going to be changed, Altuve took matters into his own hands (or feet).

Altuve took off his left shoe and sock and limped over to the umpire, pointing at his foot to show where he was hit. Miller quickly tossed Altuve from the game, and the Houston second baseman hobbled his way back to the dugout.

“It’s a foul ball,” Espada said. “You have to see the ball once it hits the foot, the flight of the ball, what the ball does. I don’t understand. That’s twice this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work hard. There’s four out there. For me, you have to be able to see it. They missed that play.”

Altuve said his thought process was the same as when players take off their batting gloves to show the umpire where they were hit by a ball on the hand.

“It was going through my head that it can’t happen,” he said. “It’s ninth inning and winning run on second base, and I’m battling against a good pitcher, Suarez, the closer. So, obviously, trying to get a hit and drive in the run and win the game.

“I get a foul ball because it hit my foot and they just took it away from me. I don’t think it can happen. There were four [umpires] on the field. You’ve got to see the change of direction on the ball and just make the right call.”

The ejection was the third of Altuve’s career and second of this season. The other came on June 30 against the Mets in New York. That day, he appeared to foul a ball off his foot against Luis Severino, only for the ball to be ruled in play and Altuve thrown out.

“I don’t think there is any hitter that doesn’t want a situation like that,” Altuve said. “We always wait for that situation. We’re always ready for that situation to get the big hit. I like those situations. If you get a hit right there, we won the game. It doesn’t matter what happens. Just the fact they took it away from me, makes me really mad.”

An emotional Espada said Altuve’s desire to win led him to remove his cleat and his shoe to try to get the call reversed.

“I respect that from Jose,” Espada said. “He wants to win, and he’s a winner. Hey, I’ll take it. I get it. If it was me, I probably take my shoes off, too, to prove a point.”