HOUSTON ā Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander was scratched from Saturday's start against the Detroit Tigers because of neck discomfort.
āHeās been actually dealing with this for like the last two weeks, trying to pitch through it,ā manager Joe Espada said. āAnd we just felt like it's smart if we could just take a break here, skip a start and try to get to the bottom of it.ā
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The Astros are hopeful that the 41-year-old right-hander won't need to go on the injured list. He is listed as day to day.
āMissing a start, itās not something you want to have happen,ā Verlander said. āBut honestly, day to day is a good thing ... and you've got to trust the trainers, trust everybody youāre talking to and I think the prognosis is pretty good. So, I canāt put a rating on it, but I feel OK about it.ā
Verlander said he cut his bullpen session short on Wednesday because of the problem but had hoped that he'd feel good enough to start Saturday.
āIt wasn't worse, it just kind of like flared up a little bit on me,ā he said. āAnd after a couple of my games, itās been a little stiff and then Iāve been able to work through it and throw and get all the stuff I needed to get done. But during the bullpen, it flared up on me a little bit and I just kind of pulled the shoot and tried not to be stupid about it and push it like I normally would.ā
The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 3-2 with a 3.95 ERA in 10 starts this season.
Spencer Arrighetti, who was scheduled to start Sunday, will start Saturday in place of Verlander. Espada said the Astros haven't decided who will start in the series finale in Arrighetti's place.
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