Last night, Houston Astros starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi was forced to exit the game early against the Boston Red Sox due to left lower leg discomfort.

But the play in which he got hurt made it look far worse than just discomfort.

As Enrique Hernandez hit a ground ball to first baseman Yuli Gurriel, Odorizzi went to cover the bag, but fell down just a few steps away from the mound.

Gurriel took it himself for the out, but Odorizzi had to be carted off the field on a stretcher.

The Astros are still waiting to hear more, but Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle heard from manager Dusty Baker that Odorizzi was on crutches and in a boot, but in good spirits as he heads for an MRI today.

Astros Wait On MRI

You certainly hope it’s nothing more than a little discomfort, but it looked way worse than that.

The good thing is that Odorizzi is in good spirits, which tells us that he’s probably feeling okay about things.

But it’s still bad news whenever a player falls down and can’t get up and needs to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

Odorizzi got off to a bad start this year, but appears to have turned the corner in his last four starts.

He’s 3-2 with a 3.13 ERA in seven starts.

The injury ended what had been a solid night for Odorizzi, who went five innings and allowed two runs on Monday night as the Astros fell to Boston, 6-3.

The MRI today will determine whether or not Odorizzi will need to go on the injured list.

It certainly looked a lot worse than simply discomfort.

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