Minnesota Twins (31-25, third in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (25-32, third in the AL West)
Houston; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Pablo Lopez (4-5, 5.25 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 69 strikeouts); Astros: Ronel Blanco (5-0, 1.99 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 51 strikeouts)
: LINE Astros -112, Twins -107; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Minnesota Twins on Friday to open a three-game series.
Houston has gone 14-15 in home games and 25-32 overall. The Astros have the third-ranked team slugging percentage in the AL at .412.
Minnesota is 15-12 on the road and 31-25 overall. The Twins have gone 10-4 in games decided by one run.
The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez has 11 doubles and nine home runs for the Astros. Kyle Tucker is 6-for-36 with three home runs over the past 10 games.
Ryan Jeffers has 12 home runs, 14 walks and 36 RBI while hitting .254 for the Twins. Jose Miranda is 10-for-35 with a double, two home runs and seven RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .234 batting average, 3.06 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs
Twins: 7-3, .245 batting average, 3.94 ERA, even run differential
INJURIES: Astros: Cristian Javier: 15-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), Jose Urquidy: 15-Day IL (forearm), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Twins: Justin Topa: 60-Day IL (knee), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daniel Duarte: 60-Day IL (tricep), Zack Weiss: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Anthony DeSclafani: 60-Day IL (elbow)
------
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.