Astros and Phillies square off to start the World Series
Philadelphia Phillies (87-75, third in the NL East during the regular season) vs. Houston Astros (106-56, first in the AL West during the regular season)
Houston; Friday, 8:03 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Phillies: Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA, .96 WHIP, 235 strikeouts); Astros: Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA, .83 WHIP, 185 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -168, Phillies +143; over/under is 6 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday in Game 1 of the World Series.
Houston is 106-56 overall and 55-26 in home games. Astros hitters have a collective .423 slugging percentage to rank fifth in MLB.
Philadelphia has gone 40-41 on the road and 87-75 overall. The Phillies have the third-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .421.
The teams meet Friday for the fourth time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Bregman has 38 doubles, 23 home runs and 93 RBI while hitting .259 for the Astros. Yuli Gurriel is 13-for-39 with two home runs over the past 10 games.
Kyle Schwarber leads the Phillies with 70 extra base hits (21 doubles, three triples and 46 home runs). Bryce Harper is 18-for-40 with six doubles, five home runs and 11 RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 9-1, .251 batting average, 1.73 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs
Phillies: 8-2, .245 batting average, 3.07 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
INJURIES: Astros: Michael Brantley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jason Castro: 60-Day IL (knee), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat)
Phillies: Kent Emanuel: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Mark Appel: 60-Day IL (elbow), Simon Muzziotti: 60-Day IL (knee), Corey Knebel: 60-Day IL (lat), Hans Crouse: 60-Day IL (biceps), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Damon Jones: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.