Tampa Bay Rays (98-60, first in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (92-66, first in the AL West)
Houston; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Collin McHugh (6-1, 1.74 ERA, .92 WHIP, 73 strikeouts) Astros: Lance McCullers Jr. (12-5, 3.17 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 181 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Brandon Lowe and the Rays will take on the Astros Thursday.
The Astros are 48-29 in home games in 2020. Houston has a team on-base percentage of .335, led by Yuli Gurriel with a mark of .380.
The Rays are 46-31 in road games. Tampa Bay has slugged .427 this season. Brandon Lowe leads the team with a mark of .503.
The Rays won the last meeting 7-0. Drew Rasmussen earned his fourth victory and Lowe went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBIs for Tampa Bay. Luis Garcia registered his eighth loss for Houston.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with 32 home runs and is batting .276.
Randy Arozarena leads the Rays with 140 hits and is batting .272.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .222 batting average, 4.62 ERA, outscored by one run
Rays: 6-4, .263 batting average, 2.42 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs
INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Zack Greinke: (neck), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (shoulder), Freudis Nova: (knee), Taylor Jones: (covid-19).
Rays: Matt Wisler: (finger), Ryan Thompson: (shoulder), Jeffrey Springs: (knee), Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), DJ Johnson: (shoulder), Tyler Glasnow: (elbow), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Adam Conley: (covid-19), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Chris Archer: (hip), Nick Anderson: (back), Yandy Diaz: (ribs).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
