Minnesota Twins (62-60, third in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (80-45, first in the AL West)
Houston; Thursday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Chris Archer (2-6, 4.02 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 76 strikeouts); Astros: Luis Garcia (10-8, 4.09 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 127 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -187, Twins +158; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros, on a six-game home winning streak, host the Minnesota Twins.
Houston has an 80-45 record overall and a 41-18 record at home. The Astros are 36-12 in games when they did not give up a home run.
Minnesota is 62-60 overall and 27-32 in road games. The Twins are 36-14 in games when they did not give up a home run.
The matchup Thursday is the sixth time these teams match up this season. The Astros have a 5-0 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with 31 home runs while slugging .608. Kyle Tucker is 15-for-42 with five doubles, a home run and six RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .276 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Twins: 4-6, .218 batting average, 2.86 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
INJURIES: Astros: 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)
Twins: Cole Sands: 15-Day IL (arm), Nick Gordon: day-to-day (undisclosed), Byron Buxton: 10-Day IL (hip), Alex Kirilloff: 60-Day IL (wrist), Tyler Mahle: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kyle Garlick: 10-Day IL (ribcage), Miguel Sano: 60-Day IL (knee), Bailey Ober: 60-Day IL (groin), Danny Coulombe: 60-Day IL (hip), Ryan Jeffers: 10-Day IL (thumb), Trevor Larnach: 10-Day IL (core), Cody Stashak: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Royce Lewis: 60-Day IL (knee), Chris Paddack: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jhon Romero: 60-Day IL (biceps), Jorge Alcala: 60-Day IL (elbow), Randy Dobnak: 60-Day IL (finger), Kenta Maeda: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
