Jeremy Peña out of Houston Astros’ lineup for series finale vs. Seattle Mariners

SEATTLE – Shortstop Jeremy Peña was out of the Houston Astros‘ lineup Wednesday against Seattle, a night after he was hit on the right forearm by a pitch.

Peña underwent X-rays that showed “there’s no damage” in the area but was still “pretty sore,” manager Joe Espada said pregame. It was unclear if Peña would be available off the bench Wednesday night.

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Peña was hit by a 96.4 mph sinker from Mariners right-hander Carlos Vargas in the eighth inning Tuesday, slamming his bat in frustration. He stayed in to run the bases but was replaced on defense in the bottom of the inning.

The Astros entered Wednesday tied atop the American League West with the Rangers with five games to play. Houston has the tiebreaker against Texas. Espada expressed hope that Peña might only miss a game with the Astros starting a four-game series against the A’s on Thursday in West Sacramento, Calif.

Peña, the Astros’ leadoff hitter, has a 123 OPS-plus this season and was 11-for-30 in his past seven games entering Wednesday. The Astros, who have scored the second-fewest runs in the majors since the Aug. 3 trade deadline, were 56-48 with Peña in the starting lineup and 22-31 without him.

Center fielder Daulton Varsho was absent from Houston’s lineup for a third consecutive game due to a left wrist issue. His availability off the bench was also unclear pregame.

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“Varsho is very slowly progressing,” Espada said. “There’s still some stiffness in that wrist. Anytime he does any baseball activity, it just stiffens up on him. So we’ll see how much more (time) he needs.”

The Astros’ lone trade deadline addition, Varsho entered Wednesday with a .172 average and .535 OPS in his 41 games with the team.

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This article originally published at Jeremy Peña out of Houston Astros’ lineup for series finale vs. Seattle Mariners.