White Sox visit Houston, aim to build on Rodon's strong showing
Chicago White Sox (43-27, first in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (41-28, second in the AL West)
Houston; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: White Sox: Lance Lynn (7-2, 1.63 ERA, .94 WHIP, 80 strikeouts) Astros: Framber Valdez (3-0, 1.42 ERA, .95 WHIP, 24 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -124, White Sox +107; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Carlos Rodon. Rodon threw seven innings, giving up one run on three hits with eight strikeouts against Houston.
The Astros are 24-13 on their home turf. Houston has hit 92 home runs this season, seventh in the American League. Jose Altuve leads them with 16, averaging one every 15.1 at-bats.
The White Sox are 16-15 in road games. The Chicago offense has compiled a .252 batting average as a team this season, good for fifth in the majors. Tim Anderson leads the team with an average of .306.
The Astros won the last meeting 2-1. Ryan Pressly recorded his fourth victory and Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Houston. Garrett Crochet registered his third loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yuli Gurriel leads the Astros with 74 hits and has 48 RBI.
Jose Abreu leads the White Sox with 12 home runs and is batting .253.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 8-2, .308 batting average, 3.03 ERA, outscored opponents by 33 runs
White Sox: 6-4, .236 batting average, 3.49 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs
INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Joe Smith: (undisclosed), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Bryan Abreu: (calf), Kyle Tucker: (health protocols), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).
White Sox: Michael Kopech: (hamstring), Jace Fry: (microdiscectomy), Jimmy Cordero: (tommy john surgery), Luis Robert: (hip), Eloy Jimenez: (left pectoral), Billy Hamilton: (oblique), Adam Eaton: (hamstring), Nick Madrigal: (hamstring).
------
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
