Boston Red Sox (51-52, fifth in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (67-36, first in the AL West)
Houston; Monday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 4.32 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 80 strikeouts); Astros: Luis Garcia (8-6, 3.71 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -190, Red Sox +160; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros open a three-game series at home against the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
Houston has a 67-36 record overall and a 33-15 record in home games. The Astros have the second-best team ERA in MLB play at 3.03.
Boston is 51-52 overall and 25-25 on the road. Red Sox hitters are batting a collective .255, which ranks third in the AL.
The teams play Monday for the fourth time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with a .310 batting average, and has 14 doubles, two triples, 30 home runs, 54 walks and 70 RBI. Yuli Gurriel is 11-for-36 with two RBI over the last 10 games.
Xander Bogaerts has eight home runs, 41 walks and 45 RBI while hitting .316 for the Red Sox. Alex Verdugo is 13-for-39 with three doubles and four RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .246 batting average, 3.48 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs
Red Sox: 3-7, .246 batting average, 6.90 ERA, outscored by 35 runs
INJURIES: Astros: Jason Castro: 10-Day IL (knee), Blake Taylor: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Brantley: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (forearm)
Red Sox: Rafael Devers: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Kike Hernandez: 60-Day IL (hip), Chris Sale: 15-Day IL (finger), Trevor Story: 10-Day IL (hand), Matt Strahm: 15-Day IL (wrist), Matt Barnes: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Michael Wacha: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Danish: 15-Day IL (elbow), Rich Hill: 15-Day IL (knee), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (back), James Paxton: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
