Otto expected to start as Rangers host the Astros

Houston Astros (85-60, first in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (54-91, fifth in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Framber Valdez (10-5, 3.26 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 109 strikeouts) Rangers: Glenn Otto (0-1, 6.92 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 16 strikeouts)

LINE: Rangers +194, Astros -234; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Texas and Houston will face off on Thursday.

The Rangers are 32-39 on their home turf. Texas's lineup has 155 home runs this season, Adolis Garcia leads them with 30 homers.

The Astros have gone 40-33 away from home. The Houston offense has compiled a .269 batting average as a team this season, Yuli Gurriel leads the team with a mark of .315.

The Astros won the last meeting 7-2. Jose Urquidy earned his seventh victory and Kyle Tucker went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and an RBI for Houston. Kohei Arihara took his fourth loss for Texas.

TOP PERFORMERS: Garcia leads the Rangers with 81 RBI and is batting .247.

Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with 95 RBI and is batting .280.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 7-3, .253 batting average, 5.16 ERA, outscored by one run

Astros: 6-4, .298 batting average, 3.73 ERA, outscored opponents by 23 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), Kolby Allard: (illness), Eli White: (elbow), Andy Ibanez: (hamstring), Ronald Guzman: (knee).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Jake Odorizzi: (foot), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), 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.