HOUSTON — Jose Altuve, the Houston Astros' slugging second baseman, is out of the lineup for Thursday’s series finale against the Oakland Athletics after leaving Wednesday’s game with right side discomfort.
Altuve said after Wednesday’s game, a 5-4 loss to Oakland, that he wasn’t concerned.
“Maybe I just wake up tomorrow, and I’m good to go, so I don’t really want to take any positions tonight because normally, with an injury you wait until the next day and see how you feel,” he said Wednesday.
We’re not sure how Altuve felt when he woke up Thursday, but if the starting lineup is any indication, the discomfort was still there.
Altuve exited Wednesday’s game after swinging at a pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning. He finished the at-bat, but didn’t come back out for the top of the sixth. He was replaced at second base by Mauricio Dubón while Ben Gamel moved from right to left field and Jason Heyward entered the game in right and took Altuve’s spot in the lineup.
As soon as we know more about how Altuve's feeling and if he's injured, we'll post it here.
For the season, Altuve is batting .302 this season with 19 home runs and 62 RBIs. He has 174 hits, which ranked fourth in the majors entering Wednesday.
More Astros injury news
The Astros got other bad injury news as outfielder Chas McCormick was diagnosed with a small fracture in his right hand, Espada said following Wednesday’s game. Espada did not have a timeline for how long McCormick would be out, but the injury would require a stint on the 10-day injured list.
McCormick suffered the injury colliding against the outfield wall making a catch Tuesday night.
“It sucks,” McCormick said. “It’s really disappointing. I just want to be out here trying to help the team win, especially at the end of the season, going into the playoffs.”
Houston currently has a 3.5-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the American League West.
