Allard expected to start as Texas hosts Houston

Houston Astros (76-52, first in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (44-84, fifth in the AL West)

Arlington, Texas; Saturday, 7:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Framber Valdez (8-4, 2.94 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 92 strikeouts) Rangers: Kolby Allard (3-10, 4.86 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 84 strikeouts)

LINE: Rangers +202, Astros -243; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Yordan Alvarez and the Astros will take on the Rangers Saturday.

The Rangers are 28-35 on their home turf. Texas has a collective on-base percentage of .290, led by Nathaniel Lowe with a mark of .346.

The Astros have gone 35-27 away from home. Houston has slugged .440 this season. Yordan Alvarez leads the club with a .533 slugging percentage, including 52 extra-base hits and 26 home runs.

The Astros won the last meeting 5-4. Phil Maton earned his third victory and Jacob Meyers went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI for Houston. Brett Martin took his fourth loss for Texas.

TOP PERFORMERS: Adolis Garcia leads the Rangers with 27 home runs and is slugging .477.

Alvarez leads the Astros with 26 home runs and is batting .283.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 2-8, .280 batting average, 5.00 ERA, outscored by 12 runs

Astros: 6-4, .283 batting average, 3.23 ERA, outscored opponents by 20 runs

INJURIES: Rangers: Hunter Wood: (elbow), Jose Leclerc: (elbow), Ronald Guzman: (knee), Brock Holt: (covid-19), Willie Calhoun: (forearm), Charlie Culberson: (covid-19), Eli White: (elbow), Drew Anderson: (covid-19), Kohei Arihara: (finger), Joe Barlow: (finger), Matt Bush: (elbow), Kyle Cody: (shoulder), Dane Dunning: (covid-19), Mike Foltynewicz: (covid-19), Jonathan Hernandez: (elbow), Spencer Howard: (covid-19), John King: (shoulder), Jonah Heim: (covid-19).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (shoulder), Chas McCormick: (hand).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.