Astros News: Altuve's X-Rays negative; Zeid Up and Owens down

The Astros' fanbase collectively held its breath after Jose Altuve was hit by a Randall Delgado 92-mph fastball in the seventh inning, Thursday. Houston has already had a few scares this season - George Springer tweaking his hip flexor in Anaheim, Delino DeShields being hit by a pitch in the face, and Carlos Correa getting hit on the hand by a pitch during Spring Training. Like the rest of these events, the Astros appear to have dodged a bullet. (Well if you count DeShields' grapefruit size knot on his face as dodging a bullet.) The X-rays on Altuve's hand have come back negative, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jose de Jesus Ortiz. Bo Porter talked about the team's relief in hearing the news -

"The good news is that the x-rays are negative, which is a sigh of relief for all of us," manager Bo Porter said.

Porter would go on to say Altuve is day-to-day, and is not expected to play Friday.

***

The Astros have announced they have optioned Rudy Owens back to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and recalled reliever Josh Zeid. MLB.com's Brian McTaggart broke the news late Thursday night -

After the game, the #Astros optioned LHP Rudy Owens to OKC. Josh Zeid is coming back up.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 13, 2014

Owens wasn't used during this most recent stint with the Astros. He was called up to replace Paul Clemens on the roster on June 8. Owens, thought to be strictly a starter, may have been called up for a spot start in place of Scott Feldman. Feldman lasted only 1.2 innings in a start on June 7- showing signs of lowered velocity and control. But, Feldman made his scheduled start Thursday - giving up two earned runs over 6.1 innings.

Zeid was last with the Astros on May 23 since then has given up two runs over 6.1 innings (six appearances) of work with the RedHawks. He's given up zero runs over his last 4.2 innings of work while striking out seven and walking three.