Alvarez day to day with left knee discomfort

HOUSTON -- Rookie slugger Yordan Alvarez is expected to miss a game or two after leaving Thursday’s 10-0 loss to the Pirates after three innings with what the team called left knee discomfort. Alvarez fouled a ball off that knee Tuesday and then felt something while stopping to catch a Colin Moran fly ball in the top of the third.

Considering the Astros were down 6-0 at the time, manager AJ Hinch decided to remove Alvarez from the game. Tony Kemp played the final six innings in left field.

“It started barking a little bit, and he said he could have continued to play, but you saw how the game was going,” Hinch said. “I took him out of the game as a precaution. I don’t know if I play him [Friday]. We’ll give him a day or two.”

Alvarez said he’s not concerned about the knee and was awaiting the results of tests he had performed.

“We did a treatment, and hopefully, in a day [or] two days, we’ll be good,” he said.

Alvarez, who turned 22 on Thursday, was called up June 9 and tied a Major League record with seven home runs in his first 12 games. He homered in four of his first five games and is hitting .298 with seven homers and 18 RBIs in his first 15 games in the big leagues.