Astros manager Joe Espada had a brief discussion with the umpiring crew that appeared amicable. Kevin M. Cox / Associated PressAug. 22, 2026 9:53 pm EDT Updated HOUSTON — Astros manager Joe Espada intended to invigorate his best pitcher. Instead, with a wayward point of his right index finger, he accidentally removed him from the game.Espada almost always exits the dugout to replace a pitcher. He strolls toward the mound and sometimes claps his hands before taking the baseball.On Saturday afternoon, though, he sprinted from the first-base dugout at Daikin Park. Astros ace and 2025 American League Cy Young finalist Hunter Brown had thrown 101 pitches against the Athletics, but he needed one more out to escape the sixth inning. A brief conversation between pitcher and manager ensued before Espada returned to his perch.
Brown remained in the game — for a moment.After Espada reached the dugout, home-plate umpire Will Little gathered the game’s three other umpires near the first-base line. A’s manager Mark Kotsay came to the top step of his dugout to protest the mound visit. After a discussion by the umpires, they forced Espada to remove Brown because Espada apparently signaled toward the bullpen in right field.
