Astros host the Red Sox to start 3-game series

Boston Red Sox (65-58, third in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (67-56, first in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.01 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 127 strikeouts); Astros: Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 4.49 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 154 strikeouts)

: LINE Astros -125, Red Sox +106; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Boston Red Sox on Monday to start a three-game series.

Houston has a 34-27 record at home and a 67-56 record overall. Astros pitchers have a collective 3.83 ERA, which ranks 10th in MLB play.

Boston has gone 36-26 in road games and 65-58 overall. The Red Sox have hit 155 total home runs to rank sixth in the majors.

Monday's game is the fourth time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads Houston with 25 home runs while slugging .552. Alex Bregman is 16-for-45 with five home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.

Ceddanne Rafaela has 16 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 59 RBI for the Red Sox. Masataka Yoshida is 13-for-32 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 9-1, .280 batting average, 2.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 28 runs

Red Sox: 4-6, .259 batting average, 5.70 ERA, outscored by nine runs

INJURIES: Astros: Ryan Pressly: 15-Day IL (back), Alex Bregman: day-to-day (elbow), Kyle Tucker: 60-Day IL (shin), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), 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)

Red Sox: Cam Booser: 15-Day IL (elbow), James Paxton: 15-Day IL (leg), Bryan Mata: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (elbow), Garrett Whitlock: 60-Day IL (oblique), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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