Altuve and Norris leave game early with injuries

The Astros are taking another beating from the Tigers tonight. That’s nothing new. More discouraging is the news that Jose Altuve and Bud Norris were both forced from the game early due due to injuries.

Altuve was injured when he collided with Jimmy Paredes as both players were tracking a popup off the bat of Jhonny Peralta. Paredes’ shoulder made hard contact with the side of Altuve’s face and Jose suffered a partially dislocated right jaw. Paredes was only momentarily shaken and stayed in the game.

Norris took the mound for the sixth inning but was unable to complete his warmup tosses. Bud cringed in pain and grabbed at his back before exiting the contest with what was later reported as lower back spasms. Paul Clemens came on in relief.

The injury to Altuve sounds painful but there is a chance he may be able to avoid the disabled list. Only time will tell. Astros fans are keeping their fingers crossed that Altuve recovers quickly. But if the All-Star second-baseman lands on the D.L. we could see Jake Elmore called up from AAA. Elmore is currently hitting .301/.381/.463 with eight stolen bases for Oklahoma City.

Norris may also be able to avoid the D.L. — it’s hard to say with this sort of injury. Hopefully a couple of sessions of treatment will do the trick and Bud will be as good as new. If the condition worsens we could see Brett Oberholtzer or …(gulp) Brad Peacock back with the big club.

Jose Altuve got the worst of a collision with Jimmy Paredes (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)