Howard expected to start as Texas hosts Houston

Houston Astros (83-59, first in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (53-89, fifth in the AL West)

Arlington, Texas; Monday, 8:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 4.28 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 85 strikeouts) Rangers: Spencer Howard (0-3, 6.21 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 41 strikeouts)

LINE: Rangers +160, Astros -189; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Texas and Houston will square off on Monday.

The Rangers are 31-37 in home games in 2020. The Texas pitching staff averages 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings, Jordan Lyles leads them with a mark of 7.2.

The Astros are 38-32 on the road. Houston's lineup has 181 home runs this season, Yordan Alvarez leads them with 28 homers.

The Rangers won the last meeting 13-2. Taylor Hearn recorded his fourth victory and Adolis Garcia went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and five RBI for Texas. Zack Greinke took his fifth loss for Houston.

TOP PERFORMERS: Garcia leads the Rangers with 53 extra base hits and is batting .245.

Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 59 extra base hits and is batting .294.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 6-4, .259 batting average, 4.14 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Astros: 5-5, .277 batting average, 4.18 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

INJURIES: Rangers: Hunter Wood: (elbow), Nick Snyder: (shoulder), Jose Leclerc: (elbow), John King: (shoulder), Jonathan Hernandez: (elbow), Mike Foltynewicz: (covid-19), Kyle Cody: (shoulder), Matt Bush: (elbow), Drew Anderson: (covid-19), Kolby Allard: (illness), Eli White: (elbow), Willie Calhoun: (forearm), Andy Ibanez: (hamstring), Brock Holt: (covid-19), Ronald Guzman: (knee).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Zack Greinke: (covid-19), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (shoulder), Michael Brantley: (knee), Taylor Jones: (covid-19), Jason Castro: (knee).

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