Houston Astros (46-28, first in the AL West) vs. Detroit Tigers (32-42, fourth in the AL Central)
Detroit; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Luis Garcia (5-4, 2.69 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 80 strikeouts) Tigers: Jose Urena (2-7, 5.79 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 41 strikeouts)
LINE: Tigers +177, Astros -214; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Jose Urquidy. Urquidy pitched seven innings, giving up zero runs on three hits with six strikeouts against Baltimore.
The Tigers are 17-19 in home games in 2020. Detroit is averaging 3.8 RBIs per game this season. Jonathan Schoop leads the team with 40 total runs batted in.
The Astros are 20-15 in road games. Houston has a team on-base percentage of .346, good for first in the American League. Michael Brantley leads the team with a mark of .402.
The Tigers won the last meeting 6-4. Michael Fulmer earned his first victory and Jeimer Candelario went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Detroit. Lance McCullers Jr. took his first loss for Houston.
TOP PERFORMERS: Schoop leads the Tigers with 15 home runs and is batting .276.
Jose Altuve leads the Astros with 17 home runs and is batting .287.
LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 6-4, .254 batting average, 4.81 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
Astros: 10-0, .327 batting average, 1.68 ERA, outscored opponents by 60 runs
INJURIES: Tigers: Spencer Turnbull: (forearm), Julio Teheran: (shoulder), Erasmo Ramirez: (pectoral), Alex Lange: (shoulder), Derek Holland: (shoulder), Rony Garcia: (knee), Matthew Boyd: (arm), Victor Reyes: (intercostal), Derek Hill: (shoulder), Niko Goodrum: (finger), Miguel Cabrera: (calf).
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), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
