HOUSTON -- With only eight games remaining in the regular season and the Astros left with little margin for error if they're going to reach the postseason, there was no way shortstop Carlos Correa wasn't going to be in the lineup Saturday.
Correa, who aggravated a lingering left shoulder injury in the ninth inning of Friday's loss to the Angels, was in the lineup for Saturday's game. He's been dealing with left shoulder inflammation for a few weeks and playing through pain.
"I knew right away when I woke up, I was going to play no matter what," Correa said. "I came in and took some swings and felt great and I'm out there in the lineup."
After the Angels stormed back to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth Friday, Correa attempted to make a diving grab on a bloop double by Rafael Ortega, but he barely missed it and landed on his shoulder. Three runs scored on the play.
"I had to go all out for that ball, and unfortunately I wasn't able to catch it," Correa said. "I gave it my best effort, and we end up losing the game anyway. We have to reset and go back out there tonight and try to win."
The reality for Correa is he'll likely have to play through shoulder pain the rest of the season, and he said he hopes that's well into October. The injury isn't structural, so he'll only need to rest it in the offseason to get ready for the spring.
"You've got to learn how to play with your body not feeling 100 percent all of the time," said Correa, who's hitting .272 with 20 homers and 93 RBIs. "I'm just going to go out there and grind and play hard and try to help my team win tonight."
Hinch said Correa can't further injure himself at this point, but he's not going to feel comfortable or have full range of motion or have 100 percent of his flexibility and strength until well into the offseason.
"He's going to gut it out and tolerate as much pain as he can," he said. "I'm sure he's not comfortable. He came in and was adamant about wanting to play, which was expected. We ran him through a few tests that would at least make us comfortable starting him in the game and we'll see how it goes."