Yordan Álvarez, Chas McCormick on Astros wild-card series roster; Justin Verlander left off

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Slugger Yordan Álvarez and outfielder Chas McCormick returned to the Houston Astros active roster for the team’s wild-card round playoff series against the Detroit Tigers after both players suffered injuries late in the regular season.

McCormick had been out since suffering a small fracture in his right hand on Sept. 10. Álvarez, who is in the Astros’ lineup for Game 1 of the series Tuesday batting second as designated hitter, had not played since sustaining a right knee sprain on Sept. 22.

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Not included on Houston’s roster is three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. The 41-year-old right-hander struggled in his return after missing almost two months with a neck injury this summer.

He went 2-2 with a 9.26 ERA in five starts in September.

Espada said Verlander was very professional when told of the decision and said he could be on the roster for future rounds if the team advances.

“JV understands how well some of our starters have performed, some of our young guys and … he threw the ball really well against Cleveland,” Espada said. “So I don’t want us to just disregard JV for the rest of the postseason.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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