Astros bring 1-0 series lead over Guardians into game 2

Houston Astros (87-73, first in the AL West) vs. Cleveland Guardians (92-68, first in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Saturday, 6:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Justin Verlander (4-6, 5.55 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 69 strikeouts); Guardians: Ben Lively (13-9, 3.80 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 114 strikeouts)

: LINE Guardians -117, Astros -103; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros take a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland is 92-68 overall and 50-29 at home. The Guardians are 66-9 in games when they scored at least five runs.

Houston has a 41-38 record on the road and an 87-73 record overall. The Astros have gone 69-37 in games when they record at least eight hits.

Saturday's game is the fifth meeting between these teams this season. The Astros have a 3-1 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads Cleveland with 38 home runs while slugging .530. Kyle Manzardo is 8-for-26 with three home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.

Yordan Alvarez has 34 doubles, two triples and 35 home runs for the Astros. Kyle Tucker is 15-for-38 with a double and three home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 6-4, .236 batting average, 2.20 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs

Astros: 6-4, .263 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored by two runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Alex Cobb: 15-Day IL (finger), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Astros: Yordan Alvarez: day-to-day (knee), Ben Gamel: 10-Day IL (knee), Chas McCormick: 10-Day IL (wrist), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (undisclosed), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), 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), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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