Astros in action against the Rays after McCullers Jr.'s strong showing
Houston Astros (14-12, third in the AL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (13-14, third in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Jose Urquidy (1-2, 4.67 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 22 strikeouts) Rays: Josh Fleming (1-2, 1.23 ERA, .96 WHIP, 8 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Lance McCullers. McCullers threw seven innings, surrendering zero runs on three hits with nine strikeouts against Tampa Bay.
The Rays are 6-9 in home games in 2020. Tampa Bay has hit 27 home runs as a team this season. Mike Zunino leads the team with five, averaging one every 10.2 at-bats.
The Astros are 7-5 on the road. Houston's team on-base percentage of .321 is third in the American League. Yuli Gurriel leads the team with an OBP of .443.
The Astros won the last meeting 9-2. Lance McCullers Jr. notched his second victory and Alex Bregman went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs for Houston. Ryan Yarbrough registered his third loss for Tampa Bay.
TOP PERFORMERS: Randy Arozarena leads the Rays with 27 hits and has 11 RBIs.
Gurriel leads the Astros with 16 RBIs and is batting .344.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .236 batting average, 4.22 ERA, outscored by one run
Astros: 7-3, .273 batting average, 2.60 ERA, outscored opponents by 29 runs
INJURIES: Rays: Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), Collin McHugh: (lower back), Chris Mazza: (right shoulder), Rich Hill: (covid-19 vaccine), Pete Fairbanks: (shoulder), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Chris Archer: (forearm), Nick Anderson: (elbow), Ji-Man Choi: (knee).
Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Framber Valdez: (finger), Blake Taylor: (ankle), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (right side), Jake Odorizzi: (right pronator muscle), Josh James: (hip), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
