Astros to start Cristian Javier in ALCS Game 3 vs. Yankees

Lance McCullers Jr. will start Game 4 after sustaining a small cut on his elbow from a thrown champagne bottle.

After the victory in Seattle, I got a spare champagne bottle to the elbow bone.

The Houston Astros will host the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS on Saturday and Lance McCullers will start Game 4 on Sunday.

The team gave him an extra day to rest because he had swelling after the game.

It was not anyone's fault. It was not intentional. It isn't a big deal.

A day after throwing 35 pitches, he said he would have no limitations in his start.

He was told how the injury happened.

A man came back behind me and the bottle hit the back of my elbow as people passed by. We weren't getting crazy. There was a person standing there. He hit me in the right place.

He is not the first pitcher to be injured this season after straining his calf jumping to celebrate a home run by a teammate.

In Houston's 8-7 Game 1 win in the ALDS, he pitched 1/3 of an outing.

A combined no-hitter was thrown by the 25-year-old in a win at Yankee Stadium. The New York pitcher took the loss in that game.

In the ALDS vs. Seattle, the starting pitcher, who was 11-9 with a 2.54 earned run average and 194 strikeouts this season, threw 113 of a relief appearance.

The first no-hitter at Yankee Stadium in 19 years happened on June 25 when the Houston Astros defeated the Yankees. The pitcher set career highs with 13 strikeouts on 115 pitches in the game before he was pulled.

In the third game of the Division Series, McCullers started for the Astros and they went on to win. He allowed two hits and struck out seven in a six-inning victory for the Astros, who were celebrating their sixth straight trip to the ALCS.

The Yankees' final five batters in the ALCS were retired by McCullers, who threw 24 consecutive curve balls.

He made his season debut for the Astros on August 13 and went 4-2 with a 2.27 earned run average and 50 strikeouts.

Cole was tabbed as the starter for Game 3, while Cortes was tabbed for the fourth game.

The AP contributed.