Astros and Rays meet with series tied 1-1
Tampa Bay Rays (86-72, third in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (103-55, first in the AL West)
Houston; Sunday, 2:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Corey Kluber (10-9, 4.36 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 135 strikeouts); Astros: Luis Garcia (14-8, 3.81 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 153 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -169, Rays +144; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays play on Sunday with the winner claiming the three-game series.
Houston has a 52-25 record at home and a 103-55 record overall. The Astros have the seventh-best team on-base percentage in MLB play at .318.
Tampa Bay has an 86-72 record overall and a 35-42 record on the road. The Rays have a 57-26 record in games when they record eight or more hits.
The matchup Sunday is the sixth meeting between these teams this season. The Astros hold a 4-1 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez has 26 doubles, two triples and 37 home runs while hitting .303 for the Astros. Jose Altuve is 10-for-28 with three doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.
Yandy Diaz has nine home runs, 78 walks and 57 RBI while hitting .297 for the Rays. Wander Franco is 11-for-38 with five doubles and four RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .237 batting average, 2.97 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
Rays: 4-6, .221 batting average, 3.70 ERA, even run differential
INJURIES: Astros: Lance McCullers Jr.: day-to-day (illness), Michael Brantley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jason Castro: 60-Day IL (knee), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat)
Rays: Yandy Diaz: day-to-day (shoulder), Brandon Lowe: 60-Day IL (back), Ryan Yarbrough: 15-Day IL (oblique), Nick Anderson: 60-Day IL (foot), Jalen Beeks: 15-Day IL (leg), Ryan Thompson: 60-Day IL (tricep), Brendan McKay: 60-Day IL (elbow), Roman Quinn: 10-Day IL (knee), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kevin Kiermaier: 60-Day IL (hip), Mike Zunino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), J.P. Feyereisen: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
