SAN FRANCISCO -- Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was removed from Tuesday’s game against the Giants at Oracle Park in the second inning with a left foot contusion after being hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance of the game.
Altuve was hobbled when he was hit on the side of his left foot by a slider thrown by Giants starter Carson Whisenhunt in the first. Altvue was visited by manager Joe Espada and an athletic trainer on his way to first base and initially stayed in the game to run the bases and played defense in the bottom of the first.
Nick Allen was on deck to hit for him as the top of the second ended, and Allen wound up taking over at second base in the bottom of the second inning.
Altuve, 36, entered Tuesday hitting .240/.302/.391 with 13 home runs and 35 RBIs. Earlier this month, Altuve recorded his 2,471st career hit, surpassing Bobby Abreu for the fourth-most by a Venezuelan-born player in Major League history. A day later, he had his 247th career homer as a second baseman, surpassing Joe Gordon and Ian Kinsler for eighth-most as a second baseman.