ATLANTA — The Houston Astros received an injury scare in Saturday night’s 6-2 win over the Atlanta Braves when nine-time All-Star Jose Altuve was pulled after complaining of right foot discomfort.
Altuve singled to right field in the third inning and then was forced out at second on a grounder hit by Jesus Sanchez.
“He came in and he said, ‘My foot is bothering me,'” said Astros manager Joe Espada. “So I took him out. Just being cautious.”
Altuve remained in the dugout during the game but was being checked by a team doctor after the game and was not available for comment.
“We want to keep an eye on it and see how it is tomorrow,” Espada said.
Altuve is a key for the Astros, who began Saturday night’s schedule tied with Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Altuve is hitting .264 and leads Houston with 25 homers. Altuve, 35, has been durable, ranking first with 144 games played and 552 at-bats. He has driven in 70 runs to rank second on the team.
Altuve, in his 15th season with Houston, has 2,378 career hits, ranking behind only Hall of Famer Craig Biggio’s 3,060 on the franchise records. Earlier this season, Altuve passed another Hall of Famer, Jeff Bagwell, for second place on the team’s career hit list.
