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The Houston Astros remain coy regarding the availability of slugger Yordan Alvarez, who resides on the 15-day injured list and missed his 23rd consecutive game Tuesday.

Alvarez, sidelined with right hand inflammation, continues to ramp up baseball activities and appears to be nearing a return, given his work in the batting cage and defensive drills. However, the Astros haven’t clarified when Alvarez will return to the active roster and have been equally opaque regarding whether he will need a rehab assignment after the long layoff.

“I’m not concerned, but that’s something I will talk to Yordan about to see how he feels,” Astros manager Joe Espada said after his team throttled the Athletics 11-1 on Tuesday. “If he feels like the work that we have done in the cage, off the machine, and stuff like that, and he’s ready to play and his legs are good and he’s physically ready to go, we can put him in there.”

Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 6.57 ERA) on Wednesday afternoon will start the finale of the two-game set against the visiting A’s.

McCullers struck out a season-high eight while working 4 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on five hits and three walks in the Astros’ 9-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. It was McCullers’ fourth start since returning from a two-season injury absence.

McCullers is 7-3 with a 3.23 ERA over 14 career starts against the Athletics, the third-most starts against the A’s in Astros franchise history. In his previous appearance against the Athletics on Sept. 15, 2022, McCullers allowed two runs on two hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts over six innings in a 5-2 home victory.

Right-hander Luis Severino (1-4, 4.11 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Athletics on Wednesday.

Severino is winless over his last six starts (0-1, 4.91 ERA), including a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday when he allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts over six innings in his team’s 10-5 loss. Severino has allowed one earned run or less in five of his 11 starts this season.

Severino is 2-4 with a 4.96 ERA over 10 career appearances (nine starts) against the Astros. He did not factor into the decision of a 10-5 loss to Houston while with the New York Mets on June 30, 2024, after allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk with three strikeouts over seven innings.

Left-hander Jacob Lopez is in line to make his third start of the season and second in succession when the Athletics continue their six-game road trip starting Thursday in Toronto. Lopez took the loss against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, 4-3, despite allowing just one run on three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over seven innings. His previous start came on April 29 against the Texas Rangers.

Lopez, whose rookie status remains intact despite debuting in 2023, has made the most of his stopgap opportunity.

“Lopez did a great job in his start filling in for J.T. Ginn,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “At this point, he’s earned another opportunity, and I think he’ll get that.”

–Field Level Media