ATLANTA — Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez was taken to a hospital during Friday night’s game against Atlanta due to shortness of breath, which was made worse by the Braves’ fireworks display in the game, Houston manager Dusty Baker said.
Alvarez left the game on his own with two outs at the end of the fifth inning. There was a pause in the action when Braves rookie Vaughn Grissom fouled a ball off his foot and was tended to by a coach.
That’s when Alvarez, who hits .295 with 31 homers and 77 RBIs, made his breakthrough for the Houston dugout.
Jordan Alvarez, Getty Images
“He’s being examined by the doctors,” Baker said after the Astros’ 6-2 loss. “They said all his vital signs were fine. He feels normal, but he has yet to see our doctor. He was easy, he was short of breath, and then when they set off the firecrackers, the smoke made it worse.
“I’m glad we got him out when we made it because I looked up and he was in the dugout and it was a scary moment because it could be anything but they said he’s fine at the moment .”
Baker said no one in the Astros’ dugout knew that Alvarez, an AL All-Star this year and 2019 Rookie of the Year, was in any dire straits.
“We didn’t see anything,” Baker said. “I just looked in the dugout and it was there. After that we had to go to the emergency room to find out what was going on and then the ambulance crew came and took him to the hospital.”
Losing Alvarez, who ranks first in AL on basis percentage and second in home runs, slugging percentage, OPS and runs for any length of time, would be a major blow to Houston. The AL-leading Astros are 77-44 and poised for another deep postseason run.
You lost to Atlanta in the World Series last year.
“He’s a big, big part of this team,” Baker said. “He’s our big boy in the middle so we’re not thinking about losing him. We are thinking about bringing him back and hopefully he will be fine tomorrow.”