Houston Astros (23-21, second in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (24-22, third in the AL West)
Arlington, Texas; Saturday, 7:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Ronel Blanco (3-3, 4.04 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 43 strikeouts); Rangers: Tyler Mahle (4-1, 1.47 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 37 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Rangers -198, Astros +164; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros on Saturday.
Texas is 24-22 overall and 16-9 in home games. The Rangers have an 11-2 record in games when they hit at least two home runs.
Houston has an 8-12 record on the road and a 23-21 record overall. Astros hitters have a collective .320 on-base percentage, the fifth-ranked percentage in the AL.
Saturday's game is the third time these teams match up this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Smith has four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 10 RBIs for the Rangers. Josh Jung is 13 for 35 with a double and five home runs over the past 10 games.
Jeremy Pena has eight doubles, six home runs and 23 RBIs for the Astros. Isaac Paredes is 9 for 34 with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 6-4, .211 batting average, 2.90 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
Astros: 6-4, .267 batting average, 3.17 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs
INJURIES: Rangers: Christopher Martin: day-to-day (elbow), Corey Seager: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Kevin Pillar: 10-Day IL (back), Kumar Rocker: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Cody Bradford: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan Gray: 60-Day IL (wrist), Josh Sborz: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Astros: Hayden Wesneski: 15-Day IL (elbow), Yordan Alvarez: 10-Day IL (hand), Forrest Whitley: 15-Day IL (knee), Spencer Arrighetti: 15-Day IL (thumb), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Taylor Trammell: 10-Day IL (calf), Pedro Leon: 10-Day IL (knee)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
