HOUSTON -- The Astros held starting second baseman Jose Altuve out of the lineup for Sunday’s 5-0 loss to the A's, two days after he came off the injured list so he could rest. His replacement, Nick Allen, wasn’t in the game for long.
Allen left with left hamstring discomfort in the third inning, an injury suffered while he was running to first base on a single. Rookie Brice Matthews took over at second base to start the fourth inning for Allen, who doesn’t think the injury is serious, but will undergo some imaging for further diagnosis.
“I was trying to leg out a double there and kind of felt something grab on me, a little bit on the left hammy -- lower left side,” he said. “You don’t want to miss any time, especially when we’re giving Altuve an off-day there. You don’t want to come out of the game and use an extra guy. I want to be in there every single day when needed. I was definitely frustrated.”
Allen, who made his sixth start of the season at second base, is hitting .266/.304/.344 with a homer in 70 plate appearances this year.
Altuve, who missed three weeks with a strained left oblique, went 1-for-4 in Friday’s win and homered in Saturday’s win. The homer was the 260th of Altuve’s career and his 240th as a second baseman, surpassing Lou Whitaker for the 10th-most home runs by a second baseman, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Altuve returned from his oblique injury after only three weeks and didn’t need a Minor League rehab assignment. He chose to have live batting practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday at Daikin Park to gauge his readiness for game action and didn’t have any issues.
Altuve was back in the lineup Friday for the first time since May 16, when he hit a hit a leadoff homer off Jacob deGrom in a 4-1 win over the Rangers before leaving the game in pain after hitting into a double play in the eighth inning. He underwent an MRI the following day and was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 18. Altuve was slashing .245/.326/.380 with four homers and 12 RBIs in 42 games at the time of his injury.