WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Astros reliever Andre Scrubb was removed from Friday night’s 10-9 loss to the Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches with right shoulder soreness, the club said. Houston manager Dusty Baker said Scrubb was being checked out by doctors and hoped to have further news Saturday.

After Scrubb gave up a homer to Washington’s Victor Robles on the first pitch of the fourth inning, catcher Martín Maldonado summoned head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall to the mound because he noticed Scrubb’s velocity was down. Scrubb was pulled from the game after talking briefly with Baker and Randall on the mound.

“It’s concerning, but we can’t jump to conclusions either,” Baker said. “We just have to wait and see what the doctor analyzed.”

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Scrubb, 26, came into the game with a runner at second and no outs in the third inning, and he allowed the runner to score on a sacrifice fly while issuing two walks with one strikeout.

“[Maldonado] noticed a change in his velocity,” Baker said. “We noticed that a little bit, too, from the sidelines from his last outing. It wasn’t that drastic.”

Scrubb put himself on the map to contend for a spot in Houston’s bullpen to start this season by posting a 1.90 ERA in 20 games in his big league debut in 2020. He stranded 13 of 15 inherited runners and was scoreless in 16 of his 20 appearances last year.