Astros left-hander Framber Valdez put on injured list with elbow inflammation

FRAMBER TO THE IL

Astros left-hander Framber Valdez put on injured list with elbow inflammation
Framber Valdez heads to the IL. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images.

Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday because of elbow inflammation as manager Joe Espada said he hoped the pitcher will miss only a couple of starts.

“He’s going to need some time to recover,” Espada said before the Astros played Kansas City. “We'll watch the inflammation to see how quickly that comes down. Hopefully it could just be maybe two starts and we’ll get him back on the mound.”

Valdez was scratched from his scheduled start in the series opener, returned to Houston on Monday night and was diagnosed with inflammation on top of the elbow. The Astros made the IL placement retroactive to Saturday.

“I didn’t get any news on the ligament, just inflammation in that elbow,” Espada said. “We’ll see where he’s at in a day or two. We can get him back throwing and then we can assess how quickly we can get him back going. I think that's pretty decent news.”

Houston selected the contract of right-hander Wander Suero from Triple-A Sugar Land and recalled left-hander Parker Mushinski from the Space Cowboys. Houston optioned right-hander Blair Henley to Sugar Land and transferred right-hander Oliver Ortega to the 60-day injured list.

Astros prospect Spencer Arrighetti will make his major league debut Wednesday night against the Royals. The rest of the rotation will be pushed back a day.

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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore

The Astros beat the Phillies, 2-0. Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images.

Victor Caratini homered, Isaac Paredes drove in a run and the Houston Astros shut out the Philadelphia Phillies for a second straight game with a 2-0 victory on Wednesday night.

Houston starter Colton Gordon (3-1) allowed four singles and struck out four in five innings.

Josh Hader struck out one in the ninth for his 21st save.

Jeremy Peña hit a leadoff ground-rule double and scored on a groundball single by Isaac Paredes to give Houston an early lead.

Houston’s pitching staff had retired nine straight when Brandon Marsh singled to right field off Bryan King with one out in the eighth. Trea Turner’s single on a grounder to center field sent Marsh to third before Kyle Schwarber singled on an infield grounder to load the bases.

But, King struck out Alec Bohm before Nick Castellanos grounded out to leave Philadelphia emptyhanded.

Caratini’s solo shot came with two outs in the bottom of the inning to give the Astros an insurance run.

Wednesday’s win comes after the Astros got a 1-0 victory in Tuesday’s series opener. Houston is now tied with Philadelphia and Chicago for the third-best record in baseball (47-33).

Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler (7-3) yielded four hits and a run while striking out eight in six innings.

The Phillies had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth, but Gordon struck out Marsh and Turner to end the threat.

Jake Meyers sprinted to make a catch on the warning track in center field on a ball hit by Bryson Stott for the second out of the seventh inning.

Key moment

King shutting the Phillies down after loading the bases in the eighth to preserve the lead.

Key stat

Wednesday was the sixth time the Phillies have been shut out this season. Philadelphia has not scored a run in 19 straight innings.

Up next

Houston RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.88 ERA), whose ERA leads the majors, opposes LHP Cristopher Sánchez (6-2, 2.87) when the series concludes Thursday.

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