The Houston Astros finally had two games this week in which their starting lineup featured all four of their stalwarts — Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker — for the first time since early June.
It’s unclear when the foursome might be together again after Altuve sustained an injury on Wednesday in the fifth inning of a 5-4 loss to the visiting Athletics. Oakland will attempt to sweep the three-game series on Thursday.
Altuve grimaced after fouling off a 2-1 pitch from Oakland starter Joey Estes. After summoning the team trainer and manager Joe Espada, he returned to the batter’s box and fouled off a two-strike bunt that resulted in a strikeout. Altuve immediately retreated to the clubhouse and did not return to the game.
The Astros announced Altuve departed with right side discomfort and his status as day-to-day.
The club initially downplayed the severity of Tucker’s injury, with Tucker revealing that he actually fractured his shin just before his return on Friday following a three-month absence.
Right-hander Justin Verlander missed 59 games with what was announced as neck discomfort, adding an air of uncertainty to the Altuve diagnosis.
“I’m not really concerned right now, which is good,” Espada said after the Wednesday game. “He got fooled on that pitch and he kind of felt something and then out of precaution decided to bunt with two strikes just to make sure that he was fine.
“I’m not concerned that it’s an oblique. Right now it’s just right side discomfort and we’re going to see how he feels (Thursday).”
Framber Valdez (14-6, 2.97 ERA) is the scheduled starter as the Astros (77-68) attempt to avert the series sweep.
The left-hander has pitched exceptionally for an extended stretch, going 9-1 with a 2.15 ERA over his past 13 starts. The Astros won 12 of those games, including Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, when Valdez allowed two hits and three walks while recording seven strikeouts over seven shutout innings in an 8-0 victory.
That marked the sixth scoreless start of the season for Valdez, his second in a row.
Valdez is 6-4 with a 2.73 ERA over 14 career appearances (12 starts) against the Athletics. He tossed seven shutout innings against Oakland in a 3-0 home victory on May 15, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Rookie Mitch Spence (7-9, 4.42) has the starting assignment for the Athletics (64-82) on Thursday.
The right-hander is winless over his past seven starts (0-3, 4.29 ERA). Spence opened the season 3-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 11 relief appearances before shifting to the rotation on May 17. He is 4-8 with a 4.46 ERA in 20 starts and is tied for second among American League rookies in wins while ranking third in innings (130 1/3) and strikeouts (111).
Spence made one relief appearance against the Astros on May 13 and allowed two runs on two hits and one walk with one strikeout while recording two outs in the Athletics’ 9-2 road loss.
Oakland owns a 13-12 record over its last 25 games. Ten of the Athletics’ past 16 games were decided by one run.
–Field Level Media
