Astros and Guardians meet to determine series winner

Cleveland Guardians (20-10, first in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (10-20, fifth in the AL West)

Houston; Thursday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Logan Allen (3-1, 5.46 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 26 strikeouts); Astros: Spencer Arrighetti (0-3, 10.97 ERA, 2.34 WHIP, 15 strikeouts)

: LINE Astros -131, Guardians +111; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros and Cleveland Guardians play on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

Houston has a 5-10 record at home and a 10-20 record overall. The Astros have the third-best team batting average in MLB play at .263.

Cleveland has a 12-6 record in road games and a 20-10 record overall. Guardians hitters have a collective .322 on-base percentage, the fourth-ranked percentage in the AL.

Thursday's game is the third time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez has three doubles and seven home runs for the Astros. Kyle Tucker is 14-for-37 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.

Steven Kwan has six doubles, two triples and three home runs while hitting .360 for the Guardians. Will Brennan is 8-for-34 with three doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .253 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

Guardians: 6-4, .239 batting average, 3.90 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

INJURIES: Astros: Chas McCormick: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Grae Kessinger: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Cristian Javier: 15-Day IL (neck), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jose Urquidy: 15-Day IL (forearm), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Guardians: Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Eli Morgan: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Angel Martinez: 60-Day IL (foot), Gavin Williams: 15-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 15-Day IL (finger), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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