ATLANTA (AP) — Houston manager Dusty Baker said Astros left fielder Jordan Alvarez was hospitalized with shortness of breath during Friday’s game against Atlanta, aggravated by the Braves in-game fireworks.
Alvarez came out on his own with two hits at the end of the fifth inning. The game was paused when Braves rookie Vaughn Grissom fouled the ball with his foot and was called by a coach.
That’s when Alvarez, who hit .295 with 31 homers and 77 RBI, took a break at the Houston bunker.
“The doctors are examining him,” Baker said. “They said all her vitals were fine. She feels better but still needs to see our doctor. She just sighed, then when they shot her the smoke got worse.
“I’m glad we took him out because I looked up and he was in the bunker and it was a bit of a scary moment because anything could have happened but in that moment they said he was fine”.
Baker said no one at the Astros bunker knew that this year’s All-Star and 2019 Rookie of the Year Alvarez was in distress.
“We didn’t see anything,” Baker said. “I just looked at the bunker and it was there. After that we had to take immediate action to find out what was wrong and then an ambulance came and took him to the hospital.
Losing Alvarez, who was first in base percentage and second in homers and slowing percentage, for any period of time would have been a huge blow for Houston. Lead the AL Astros 77-44 and get ready for another deep playoff race.
They lost the World Series in Atlanta last year.
“He’s a big, big part of this team,” Baker said. “He’s our eldest son in the middle, so we don’t mind losing him. We’re considering bringing him back and hope he’ll be fine tomorrow.”
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Source: Breitbart
