Newcastle United defender ruled out of Man City clash in training ground update.
Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles are long-term absentees with ACL injuries while Callum Wilson (hamstring) and Lewis Miley (metatarsal) won’t return until after the October international break.
Eddie Howe has also confirmed Matt Targett will miss the Man City game. The 29-year-old hasn’t been named in the last two matchday squads against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham, and the reason for that has now been revealed. Speaking at Friday’s pre-match press conference, Howe said: “I don’t think we’ll have anyone coming back that’s been out [injured]. Matt Targett has had a flare up of eczema so he’s been sort of nursing that for the last couple of weeks, quite a bad episode for him so we’re hoping to get him back training today but he won’t be involved in the game. “Then we have the long-term injuries. In terms of fresh injuries, Alex [Isak] is still nursing that toe problem.” Alexander Isak’s toe injury makes him a major doubt for the visit of Pep Guardiola’ side. The Sweden international first picked up the problem in the 2-2 draw at Wolves and required an injection in order to feature at Fulham last weekend.
“Yeah, he’d be a doubt for tomorrow,” Howe confirmed. “He trained last week before the Fulham game on the Friday. And he had an injection in his toe to play, he felt fine, but then he started to feel his toe in the last five to 10 minutes of that game.“Then after the game it sort of stiffened up and wasn’t in a great place early in the week. So he hasn’t trained yet, so we’ll have to make a decision again as to whether he trains today or he misses the game.”
Howe added: “He’s had scans and lots of tests. The injury has been diagnosed fine – it sounds worse than it is, but he’s got a broken toe. But it’s one that can be managed and played with, provided he can tolerate the pain levels, and that will have no long-term risks.
“ He had an injection to numb the pain, and that was fine until the injection wore off. Let’s see how he is.”
Goodbye Fans:I am leaving but promised to return back:José Altuve announced…Houston pitchers combine for 3-hitter, Astros down Guardians in matchup of AL division champs.CLEVELAND (AP) — Ronel Blanco pitched five scoreless innings and rookie Zach Dezenzo homered, leading the Houston Astros to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night in a matchup of division winners that could meet again this postseason.
Blanco (13-6) allowed just a single in five innings and remained unbeaten in his last nine starts. He combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as the Astros held on to win despite striking out 13 times and stranding 12 runners.
“You could make a case he’s one of our best starters,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Blanco, who has a 0.75 ERA in four September starts. “He has helped us get to this point.”
Blanco was replaced by rookie Spencer Arrighetti, who made his first career relief appearance after 28 starts.
Arrighetti was good for two innings but walked the bases loaded in the eighth. As he was lifted, the right-hander was ejected by plate umpire Mark Wegner, who didn’t appreciate him spiking the resin bag on the mound or his words on the way off.
It was a new role for Arrighetti. He hadn’t pitched out of the bullpen since college, but could be used that way in the playoffs.
“It felt familiar, I was just a little bit rusty,” said Arrighetti. “I think I’ll be able to find a better routine the next time I do it.”
Bryan Abreu came in and got the Astros out of the eighth by striking out rookie Kyle Manzardo and All-Star José Ramírez.
Held to one hit for eight innings, the Guardians got two runs in the ninth off Josh Hader, who finished up.
Victor Caratini and Dezenzo hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning for the AL West champion Astros, who are locked into the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and will host a wild-card series next week.
If the Astros advance, they’ll play in Cleveland on Oct. 5 in Game 1 of the ALDS.
The Guardians are still chasing the New York Yankees for the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
After going 7-19 in April, Houston has turned it around by going 80-54 — the majors’ second-best mark over that span.
After Caratini’s shot to right off Eli Morgan made it 4-0, Dezenzo, who was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land earlier in the day and struck out his first two times up, blasted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in center.
It was quite a moment for Dezenzo. He grew up a Guardians fan in Alliance, Ohio, before playing at Ohio State.
“I grew up coming to this park and I watched a lot of guys like Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Jim Thome,” he said. “So hitting a home run here, there’s a lot of nostalgia and really, really cool for me.”
Guardians rookie starter Joey Cantillo allowed six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
“Just threw a lot of pitches,” he said. “Just was not very sharp for the most part, for the entirety of the game. Deep counts. Falling behind.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: LF Yordan Alvarez (knee sprain) ran on a treadmill in Houston and Espada said the slugger is “getting better quickly.” Espada said Alvarez will need to do more to be able to hit before he’s considered for the wild-card roster due Tuesday. “You can’t just go from what he’s doing now to the baseball field,” Espada said. “He’s a really, really good player but we need him to check some boxes.”
Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb (finger blister) had a productive bullpen session on Thursday as he continues progress from an injury that has sidelined him nearly a month. Vogt was vague in addressing what’s next for Cobb, who has made only three starts since being acquired in a trade.
