Boston Red Sox (92-70, second in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (95-67, first in the AL West)
Houston; Saturday, 4:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 3.70 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 195 strikeouts) Astros: Luis Garcia (0-0, 3.25 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 167 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -140, Red Sox +125; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
ALCS: Houston leads the series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: Luis Garcia and the Astros will take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2 of the ALCS.
The Astros were 51-30 on their home turf in 2021. Houston has a team slugging percentage of .450 this postseason, Carlos Correa leads them with a mark of .765, including three extra base hits and five RBIs.
The Red Sox were 43-38 on the road in 2021. Boston has a team batting average of .322 this postseason, Kike Hernandez has led them with an average of .500, including eight extra base hits and eight RBIs.
The Astros won the last meeting 5-4. Ryne Stanek recorded his second victory and Jose Altuve went 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs for Houston. Hansel Robles registered his first loss for Boston.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with 33 home runs and is slugging .531.
Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 77 extra base hits and is batting .281.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .222 batting average, 5.09 ERA, outscored by 15 runs
Red Sox: 5-5, .255 batting average, 4.40 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (shoulder), Freudis Nova: (knee), Taylor Jones: (covid-19).
Red Sox: Phillips Valdez: (covid-19).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
