The Astros just hit a major bump they didn’t see coming

NOT AGAIN

Astros Yainer Diaz, Yordan Alvarez, Hunter Brown
Yordan Alvarez is still having issues with his hand. Composite Getty Image.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.

He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.

“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”

Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.

The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.

“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”

You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.

 

Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.

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The Nationals beat the Astros, 2-1. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

Riley Adams hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night.

The game was tied 1-all with two outs in the seventh when Adams connected off Bryan King (3-2) on his 348-foot shot to the seats in right field to put Washington on top.

Christian Walker doubled to lead off the bottom of the inning and Jacob Melton walked. But Yainer Diaz grounded into a double play before Luis García struck out Mauricio Dubón to end the threat.

Konnor Pilkington (2-0) got the last two outs of the sixth for the win and Kyle Finnegan struck out one in the ninth for his 20th save.

The Astros have dropped a season-high five straight games after being swept in a four-game series by the Athletics this weekend. The AL West leaders have dropped 10 of their last 11 home games and managed just one run for a third straight game.

Nationals’ starter Brad Lord retired the first 14 batters before Diaz walked with two outs in the fifth. Dubón followed with a double on a line drive to left field that scored Diaz and put Houston up 1-0.

There were two outs in the sixth when Framber Valdez walked Josh Bell. Nathaniel Lowe’s double to the right field corner scored Bell and tied the game at 1.

Valdez allowed three hits and a run while tying a season high with 12 strikeouts in six innings to become the 10th pitcher in franchise history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts (1,007). Houston’s bullpen struck out seven more as the team tied a season high with 19 strikeouts.

Washington starter Brad Lord yielded one hit and one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Key moment

The home run by Adams.

Key stat

Eleven of Adams’ 22 hits this season have been for extra bases.

Up next

RHP Michael Soroka (3-8, 4.85 ERA) will start for the Nationals when the series continues Tuesday night. The Astros haven’t announced a starter.

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