McHugh OK after suffering bruised left forearm

HOUSTON -- Astros starting pitcher Collin McHugh expects to make his next start after suffering a bruised left forearm in Monday night's 3-1 win over the Indians when he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Lonnie Chisenhall in the seventh inning.

McHugh, a right-hander, was cruising, having allowed only an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings of work when he tried to field a sharp Chisenhall comebacker. After the game, McHugh was sporting a nasty welt on his wrist.

"It got me kind of in the meat of my wrist," he said. "It scared me a little bit at first because my hand kind of clenched up, but for the most part it was one of those things. It was a blessing it hit me there instead of some other places. It will be nice and sore with a good bruise for the next few days."

McHugh won his sixth consecutive decision in a span of seven starts. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine consecutive starts and hasn't walked a batter in his last four starts, a span of 29 1/3 innings. He tied a franchise record by not issuing a walk in four starts of at least six innings.

He joined Cy Young winner Mike Scott (1986), Larry Dierker (1969) and Nolan Ryan (1983) as the only Astros pitchers to allow two runs or fewer in nine consecutive starts. His 2.66 ERA is the lowest by an Astros pitcher (minimum 140 innings) through Sept. 15 of a season since 2005, when Roger Clemens (1.77) and Andy Pettitte (2.43) were leading the team to the World Series.