Astros second baseman Jose Altuve out with oblique injury

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve left Wednesday night's game against the Texas Rangers with right oblique discomfort.

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve left Wednesday night's game against the Texas Rangers with right oblique discomfort.

Altuve left Houston's eventual 8–4 victory over Texas in the top of the fifth inning.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch said that is doubtful that Altuve and third baseman Alex Bregman, who also left the game with an injury, will play on Friday against the Seattle Mariners.

"These guys have these twitches here and there, and these adjustments that they make," Hinch said, "but you could tell he was a touch uncomfortable after every pitch."

"They're getting looked at, getting all the tests [from] doctors," Hinch added. "They're going to have a full evaluation before we're going to know anything, but I'm not optimistic about Friday for either of them."

Altuve has 24 home runs and 94 RBIs this season, both career-highs. He leads the American League in batting average (.341), hits (196) and is tied for second in stolen bases (27).

Houston is off on Thursday, before beginning their three-game set with Seattle. The Astros (76–70) are 3.5 games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League with 16 regular season games remaining.

- Scooby Axson