Outstanding play by forgotten Astros infielder overshadowed by umpire's mistakes

The Houston Astros' matchup with the Padres on Tuesday was a wild one. We had some classic ump show moments; not only did Josh Hader get incorrectly called for a pitch clock violation (which took far to long to get sorted out), but Jose Altuve was ejected for showing the umps his bare foot. Normal.

However, outside of the madness, the instant classic was also a close, hard fought game where one of the key plays in the contest seems to have gotten unfairly lost in the shuffle.

But the Astros don't win without it.

Altuve's replacement, Grae Kessinger, clearly knew that he might have to step up, as he gave an all-timer of a quote about his entrance, stating, "As he started to untie his shoe, I started to grab my glove." It is unlikely that we will hear those words in that combination in regards to a baseball game (or anything, for that matter) again.

Step up is exactly what Kessinger did. Not only did he score what ended up being the winning run in extra innings thanks to a clutch hit from Kyle Tucker, but Kessinger's slick play preserved the win, even though that isn't what many fans are remembering right now from that game.

Lost in chaos of Astros' win was Grae Kessinger stepping up in a huge way

These are the kinds of moments that make seasons special. Kessinger had fallen out of favor in 2024, as his shortcomings as a hitter have put him behind other options on the Astros' depth chart. However, Houston called Kessinger back up to the majors as an insurance policy several days ago for Altuve, who has been banged up. They probably didn't envision this exact scenario (who would?) for using him.

Kessinger deserves plenty of love for what he did in this game. He immediately jumped into the fire, and once he was the designated zombie runner in extras, he took third on a grounder before scoring easily on Tucker's bloop to left. The play of the game was his backhanded grab up the middle for the final out. Not only was he perfectly positioned, but the ball was hit hard (103.2 mph off Machado's bat), and he picked it cleanly and got the force to end the game.

This was just one game, but Kessinger's play was still a big deal. It pushed Houston's magic number down into single digits and could be the difference between getting to rest guys at the very end of the season versus not having the chance to regroup. Not too shabby for an inning of work.

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