Ump show: Jose Altuve throws a tantrum after Astros get screwed over on foul ball

The Houston Astros' battle with the New York Mets on Sunday took an unexpected turn with the typically level-headed Jose Altuve exploded at the home plate umpire. In the top of the seventh, with runners on second and third with two outs, the following scene unfolded.

Altuve, on a 1-1 count, appeared to foul the ball off his left foot. He did not run the bases accordingly, but the ball, which dribbled down the third base line, was ruled fair. Altuve was called out, leaving two runners stranded.

This did not compute for Altuve, who felt the baseball kick off his foot and change direction. After all the umpires convened to discuss the call at midfield, he was still ruled out — and Altuve lost it. It being his helmet.

The All-Star second baseman spiked his helmet and his bat and was swiftly ejected from the game.

Jose Altuve ejected from Astros-Mets game after egregious missed call

The MLB Ump Show is one of the most entertaining events in all of sports. Generally, an official gets a call blatantly wrong, then doubles down on his incorrectness by penalizing a player upset by the incorrectness of his call.

There are worse examples than Altuve, who did react rather extremely to the botched call, but it's always difficult to stomach an All-Star leaving the game because of a completely avoidable mistake. To be frank, why would Altuve not sprint down the first-base line on a fair groundball? His honest-to-god, in-the-moment reaction — before the umps' judgement entered the fray — was to proceed as though his foot was hit. That's how we know it probably was hit.

A close-up video from the broadcast appears to confirm it. The ball plainly makes contact with the bottom of Altuve's cleat. It goes toward him off the bat, then ricochets down the third-base line after it hits his foot.

It's a tough angle for the home-plate ump, but there were umpires at third and first, too. For the entire group to botch this call is pretty egregious. I am generally opposed to robo-umps as a concept — it's a human game through and through — but this is why we hear so many fans calling for automated calls in the future. Some instances of "human error" are too maddening to sympathize with.

To miss the call is one thing, but to compound it by tossing arguably the biggest star in the game is a whole different issue. Altuve, again, is a notoriously calm and collected dude. He wouldn't go off like this without a truly blatant miscarriage of justice.

Houston was up 4-2 when the call occured. It could have been 6-2 with a base hit. The next inning, New York scored two runs to tie the game. That only makes it sting worse for Astros fans.