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Rangers starter Matt Harrison leaves Tuesday's game with back stiffness

Matt Harrison is 49-32 with a 4.12 ERA in seven seasons with the Rangers. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Matt Harrison (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Rangers starter Matt Harrison left after only 1 2/3 innings in Tuesday's 8-0 loss to the Astros in Houston with back stiffness, the team announced.

Harrison made only two starts last year and was making only his fourth of this season after undergoing two surgeries on a herniated disc in his lower back. He allowed three runs on four hits and three walks on Tuesday and was tagged with the loss.

The 28-year-old, who is 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, was an All-Star in 2012, when he went 18-11 with a 3.29 ERA in 32 starts.

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There was no word on the severity of the injury, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The temperature in Houston was a cool 66 degrees at the start of the game, Sullivan reports, and the roof was open at Minute Maid Park.

Harrison is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts this season with 10 strikeouts and 12 walks in 17 1/3 innings.

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