Houston hosts Los Angeles after McCullers Jr.'s strong performance
Los Angeles Angels (16-19, fifth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (19-17, second in the AL West)
Houston; Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Angels: Andrew Heaney (1-2, 4.11 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) Astros: Jose Urquidy (3-2, 3.51 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -118, Angels +101; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup after a dominant performance by Lance McCullers. McCullers threw eight innings, giving up one run on three hits with nine strikeouts against Los Angeles.
The Astros are 14-8 against teams from the AL West. Houston has a team on-base percentage of .322, good for third in the American League. Yuli Gurriel leads the team with a mark of .412.
The Angels have gone 7-10 against division opponents. Los Angeles has hit 47 home runs this season, fourth in the American League. Shohei Ohtani leads them with 10, averaging one every 13.2 at-bats.
The Astros won the last meeting 5-1. Lance McCullers Jr. secured his third victory and Gurriel went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Houston. Aaron Slegers took his first loss for Los Angeles.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gurriel leads the Astros with 17 extra base hits and is batting .333.
Jared Walsh leads the Angels with 29 RBIs and is batting .339.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .266 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
Angels: 3-7, .230 batting average, 5.22 ERA, outscored by 16 runs
INJURIES: 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).
Angels: Chris Rodriguez: (shoulder), Junior Guerra: (groin), Alex Cobb: (finger), Luke Bard: (hip), Dexter Fowler: (knee), Anthony Rendon: (knee), Jose Iglesias: (back), Franklin Barreto: (right elbow), Max Stassi: (concussion).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
