Astros activate Isaac Paredes and place Yordan Alvarez on the IL

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HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros activated infielder Isaac Paredes off the injured list and placed left fielder Yordan Alvarez on the 10-day injured list on Friday ahead of their series opener against the Seattle Mariners.

Paredes sustained a right hamstring strain at Seattle on July 19 while running to first base on a single. He began running, doing fielding work and hitting at the beginning of September and had been at the Astros' minor league facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, the last two weeks.

Paredes said through an interpreter that he wasn't 100 percent, but he was “close to it.” He was in the lineup at designated hitter batting third on Friday night.

“I’m here to help the team any way I can,” Paredes said. “They told me I was going to be a DH for these (first) couple of days. I practiced my ground balls at third base and second base, so I have to be ready for whatever comes up.”

Paredes is hitting .259 with 19 home runs and 50 RBIs.

Manager Joe Espada said the Astros “are excited to have (Paredes) back."

“We want to get him out there at DH, get him moving around and then, we will see where we go from there,” Espada said. “He worked really hard defensively down in West Palm, but right now, just to get him in the lineup as DH, I think he took a step in the right direction.

“The impact in our lineup, in the clubhouse just to have him back, especially what happened to Yordan a few days ago," Espada continued. “Just to have him in there in the first four spots is a huge impact for our lineup.”

Alvarez, who was placed on the injured list retroactive to Tuesday, sprained his left ankle Monday night against the Rangers.

“He is feeling better,” Espada said. “He was in there getting treatment, walking around without the boot, so that is a step in the right direction. We are really happy to see how quickly he is getting better.”

Espada said Tuesday that Alvarez has a “pretty significant” sprain “that is going to keep him out a while.”

After scoring from first base on a throwing error by Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter on Carlos Correa’s infield single in the first inning on Monday, Alvarez turned his ankle and hobbled toward the dugout. He was tended to by an athletic trainer outside the Astros’ dugout and then helped down the steps.

Alvarez is batting .273 with six home runs and 27 RBIs, but the three-time All-Star has been limited to 48 games this season. A broken right hand forced him to miss 101 games.

In a corresponding move, the Astros transferred right-hander Kaleb Ort to the 60-day injured list.

The Astros and Mariners were tied atop the AL West and had split the season series 5-5 entering this weekend's series.

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