Houston Astros (40-40, second in the AL West) vs. New York Mets (39-39, third in the NL East)
New York; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Ronel Blanco (8-2, 2.34 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 79 strikeouts); Mets: Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.58 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 58 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -117, Mets -103; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets start a three-game series at home against the Houston Astros on Friday.
New York is 39-39 overall and 20-23 in home games. The Mets have an 18-10 record in games when they did not allow a home run.
Houston has gone 16-21 in road games and 40-40 overall. Astros hitters have a collective .421 slugging percentage to rank sixth in MLB.
The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Nimmo has 13 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 46 RBI for the Mets. Mark Vientos is 11-for-40 with a double and four home runs over the last 10 games.
Jose Altuve leads the Astros with a .303 batting average, and has 16 doubles, 12 home runs, 21 walks and 35 RBI. Alex Bregman is 14-for-42 with two RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 8-2, .319 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored opponents by 38 runs
Astros: 8-2, .294 batting average, 3.54 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs
INJURIES: Mets: Drew Smith: 15-Day IL (elbow), Starling Marte: 10-Day IL (knee), Sean Reid-Foley: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Shintaro Fujinami: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brooks Raley: 15-Day IL (elbow), Kodai Senga: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ronny Mauricio: 60-Day IL (knee)
Astros: Jake Bloss: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Victor Caratini: 10-Day IL (hip), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Kyle Tucker: 10-Day IL (shin), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
