Lance McCullers Exits vs. Dodgers with Elbow Injury

Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. left Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers because of right elbow discomfort, the team announced.

McCullers exited after four innings of shutout baseball, allowing just two hits while striking out five.

An All-Star a season ago, McCullers was having another solid season before hitting a rough patch recently. Entering Saturday, he is 0-3 while allowing 14 runs in 13.2 innings over his last three starts.

The 24-year-old is 10-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 22 starts in 2018.

McCullers is coming off a season in which he helped the Astros win their first-ever World Series championship. He posted a 2.61 ERA in 20.2 innings in five playoff appearances and was the starting pitcher of Game 7 of the 2018 World Series, throwing 2.1 innings of shutout baseball in a 5-1 victory at Dodger Stadium.

The right-hander spent all of August on the disabled list while dealing with a back injury.

Houston is in a position to be cautious with McCullers. The Astros currently hold a 4.5-game lead over the Oakland Athletics in the American League West and are 6.5 games clear in the wild-card race. While they have by no means run away with a playoff spot, they do have some cushion.

Fortunately for Houston, starting pitching is an area of strength. The team's rotation ranks first in all MLB by a wide margin with a 3.02 ERA. That's because it contains former Cy Young award winners Justin Verlander (also a former AL MVP) and Dallas Keuchel as well as two-time All-Star Gerrit Cole. Oh, it also features the winning pitcher of Game 7 of last year's World Series, Charlie Morton.