Rangers starting outfielder Josh Hamilton is not expected to play at all against the Houston Astros since the All-Star player is suffering from an intestinal virus. Hamilton left Thursday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with abdominal pains, and overnight the pain continued so Hamilton was admitted to the hospital Friday morning.
Hamilton is expected to spent about 24 hours in the hospital, and with that news manager Ron Washington is holding Johnson out of the series:
"We're going to miss Hamilton," Washington said Friday afternoon. "But we're going to continue to move forward and play baseball. You don't want your best player out of the lineup but there is nothing we can do about it.
"I'm not expecting him to play [Saturday]. After that we'll wait and see. We've got a day game on Sunday so he's probably gone for the weekend."
The virus was likely caught from his family who had been sick, plus there have been other Rangers who had the same illness so the clubhouse was thoroughly cleaned on Friday to avoid other players from getting ill.
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