Houston Astros (68-38, first in the AL West) vs. Cleveland Guardians (54-50, second in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Justin Verlander (14-3, 1.81 ERA, .87 WHIP, 122 strikeouts); Guardians: Zach Plesac (2-9, 4.33 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 79 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -195, Guardians +165; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros take on the Cleveland Guardians after Jose Altuve had four hits against the Red Sox on Wednesday.
Cleveland has a 27-20 record in home games and a 54-50 record overall. The Guardians have the eighth-ranked team slugging percentage in the AL at .388.
Houston is 34-21 on the road and 68-38 overall. Astros pitchers have a collective 3.01 ERA, which ranks second in MLB play.
Thursday’s game is the fourth time these teams meet this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads Cleveland with 21 home runs while slugging .559. Amed Rosario is 12-for-46 with two home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 games.
Alex Bregman has 25 doubles, 13 home runs and 56 RBI for the Astros. Aledmys Diaz is 11-for-32 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 6-4, .253 batting average, 3.84 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
Astros: 4-6, .240 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Anthony Gose: 60-Day IL (tricep), Aaron Civale: 15-Day IL (wrist), Cody Morris: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Astros: Jason Castro: 60-Day IL (knee), Blake Taylor: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Brantley: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (forearm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.