Garcia expected to start as Houston hosts Cleveland

Cleveland Indians (47-44, second in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (57-38, first in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Indians: Triston McKenzie (1-3, 5.47 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 68 strikeouts) Astros: Luis Garcia (6-5, 2.95 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 97 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -177, Indians +153; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston and Cleveland will square off on Tuesday.

The Astros are 30-19 in home games in 2020. The Houston pitching staff averages 9 strikeouts per nine innings, Zack Greinke leads them with a mark of 6.6.

The Indians have gone 23-25 away from home. Cleveland has slugged .398 this season. Jose Ramirez leads the team with a .511 slugging percentage, including 39 extra-base hits and 19 home runs.

The Astros won the last meeting 4-3. Greinke earned his ninth victory and Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and two RBI for Houston. J.C. Mejia took his fifth loss for Cleveland.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 37 extra base hits and is batting .271.

Ramirez leads the Indians with 19 home runs and is slugging .511.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .192 batting average, 3.99 ERA, outscored by seven runs

Indians: 5-5, .252 batting average, 4.65 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Brooks Raley: (health and safety protocols), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

Indians: Cam Hill: (wrist), Aaron Civale: (finger), Shane Bieber: (shoulder), Eddie Rosario: (abdominal), Josh Naylor: (ankle), Jordan Luplow: (ankle).

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