Houston hosts Los Angeles after McCullers Jr.'s strong performance

Los Angeles Angels (16-19, fifth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (19-17, second in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Angels: Andrew Heaney (1-2, 4.11 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) Astros: Jose Urquidy (3-2, 3.51 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -118, Angels +101; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup after a dominant performance by Lance McCullers. McCullers threw eight innings, giving up one run on three hits with nine strikeouts against Los Angeles.

The Astros are 14-8 against teams from the AL West. Houston has a team on-base percentage of .322, good for third in the American League. Yuli Gurriel leads the team with a mark of .412.

The Angels have gone 7-10 against division opponents. Los Angeles has hit 47 home runs this season, fourth in the American League. Shohei Ohtani leads them with 10, averaging one every 13.2 at-bats.

The Astros won the last meeting 5-1. Lance McCullers Jr. secured his third victory and Gurriel went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI for Houston. Aaron Slegers took his first loss for Los Angeles.

TOP PERFORMERS: Gurriel leads the Astros with 17 extra base hits and is batting .333.

Jared Walsh leads the Angels with 29 RBI and is batting .339.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .266 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

Angels: 3-7, .230 batting average, 5.22 ERA, outscored by 16 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Framber Valdez: (finger), Blake Taylor: (ankle), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (right side), Jake Odorizzi: (right pronator muscle), Josh James: (hip), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder).

Angels: Chris Rodriguez: (shoulder), Junior Guerra: (groin), Alex Cobb: (finger), Luke Bard: (hip), Dexter Fowler: (knee), Anthony Rendon: (knee), Jose Iglesias: (back), Franklin Barreto: (right elbow), Max Stassi: (concussion).

------

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