Astros lose outfielder Jake Meyers, righty Cristian Javier with injuries in short span

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DENVER (AP) — The Houston Astros had a pair of players leave the game with injuries in the span of a few minutes during their game Wednesday against Colorado.

Mid at-bat in the second inning, center fielder Jake Meyers left with lower back tightness. Mid-warmups in the bottom of the frame, right-hander Cristian Javier was taken out with shoulder tightness.

Astros manager Joe Espada had no further updates after the Rockies swept the three-game series with a 9-1 win.

“Not what I want to see. It’s hard, hard, hard,” Espada said of the injuries. “Got to flush this and get ready to play ball.”

Hard to flush a series like this?

“I trust these guys,” Espada said. “They know how to do it. The injuries piled on. Not a good feeling. If there’s a team that knows how to bounce back, it’s this group in there.”

It's been an injury-filled week for the Astros, who on Sunday placed righty Hunter Brown on the 15-day injured list with a strained shoulder.

Meyers tweaked his back while facing Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen. Trainers came out to check on Meyers and he stepped back into the batter's box. But after another pitch he was taken out. Brice Matthews took over with a 2-2 count and delivered a pinch-hit single to left.

“Took a swing, thought I was good to go,” Meyers said after the game. “Took a harder take and it tightened it up more.”

After taking the mound, Javier motioned toward the dugout following a warmup pitch. A brief mound visit led to manager Joe Espada taking him out and replacing him with AJ Blubaugh, who gave up five runs in the second.

Javier threw one inning and allowed one run while striking out one.

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