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McCullers left Game 4 start with forearm tightness, status unclear

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Major League Baseball / Getty

The Houston Astros are dealing with a concerning injury heading into the ALCS.

Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. was removed in the fourth inning of the Astros' ALDS-clinching win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday due to right forearm discomfort, manager Dusty Baker said, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

McCullers is now being evaluated, and there's no further word on his status.

"For him to come out of a game of that magnitude, it had to be something serious," Baker said, according to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

McCullers, who missed all of 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was brought back to start Game 4 when the contest was postponed a day due to rain. He was working on four days of rest, as he'd done for 10 of his 28 regular-season starts.

"I felt fine until toward the end of the fourth," McCullers said, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. "At that point, it was 5-1 and felt like I'd thrown the ball well for the team.

"I wasn’t on short rest, but my routine was short," he added. "I just had a little shorter week than normal."

"I don't think it has anything to do with my ligament," McCullers continued. "We'll have to just wait and see how I feel tomorrow, if I need to get any imaging done, or things like that."

The 28-year-old looked sharp during his outing, allowing one run on five hits while striking out five batters and walking three. He finished the ALDS sporting a 0.84 ERA over his two starts in the series.

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