Rangers look to end slide in matchup with the Astros

Texas Rangers (58-75, third in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (86-48, first in the AL West)

Houston; Monday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Martin Perez (10-5, 2.89 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 144 strikeouts); Astros: Hunter Brown (0-0)

LINE: Astros -165, Rangers +140; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers head into the matchup against the Houston Astros after losing eight games in a row.

Houston has gone 43-20 at home and 86-48 overall. Astros hitters have a collective .318 on-base percentage, the 10th-best percentage in MLB play.

Texas has gone 30-37 in road games and 58-75 overall. The Rangers are 31-18 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Monday's game is the 17th time these teams meet this season. The Astros hold a 12-4 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with 31 home runs while slugging .593. Jose Altuve is 17-for-40 with six doubles, three home runs and seven RBI over the past 10 games.

Marcus Semien has 22 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs and 67 RBI while hitting .243 for the Rangers. Nate Lowe is 17-for-38 with two doubles, a triple and four home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 7-3, .231 batting average, 1.96 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs

Rangers: 2-8, .268 batting average, 6.59 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Martin Maldonado: day-to-day (illness), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (calf), Ryan Pressly: 15-Day IL (neck), Aledmys Diaz: 10-Day IL (groin), Michael Brantley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jason Castro: 60-Day IL (knee), Blake Taylor: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat)

Rangers: Josh Sborz: 60-Day IL (right elbow), Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (calf), Joe Barlow: 15-Day IL (finger), Spencer Howard: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jon Gray: 15-Day IL (side), Mitch Garver: 60-Day IL (forearm), Eli White: 60-Day IL (wrist)

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