Correa fouls ball off ankle; X-rays negative

HOUSTON -- The Astros breathed a huge sigh of relief late Tuesday after learning X-rays performed on the left ankle of starting shortstop Carlos Correa came back negative. Correa had to be helped off the field after fouling a ball off the ankle in the sixth inning of Houston's 4-1 win over the Rangers.

Correa, who was diagnosed with a bone bruise, will likely need a few days to recover considering how much pain he appeared to be in, but the Astros avoided what could have been a catastrophic injury considering they’re two weeks away from trying to defend their American League title.

“We were scared,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.

Correa fell to the ground immediately after the ball struck his lower leg, and he hardly moved for a few minutes as Baker and head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall came from the dugout to check on him. Randall and outfielder Josh Reddick helped Correa off the field as Correa tried to avoid putting weight on the leg.

Correa’s injury came as the Astros welcomed second baseman Jose Altuve back from the injured list for the Rangers series. He had been out since Sept. 3 with a sprained right knee.

“He’s one of the best players in the game, one of the best teammates,” third baseman Alex Bregman said of Correa. “Y’all have seen it. He makes a diving play almost every single day at shortstop. He’s been everything this year for us. We were all very sad to see that happen, but it’s good news and hopefully, he’ll be back out there very, very soon.”

Correa, who had his previous two seasons marred by injuries, entered Tuesday ranked second on the team with 179 plate appearances this year. He was slashing .278/.346/.401 with four homers and 23 RBIs through the team’s first 46 games and playing a Gold Glove-caliber defense.