Texas Rangers (18-22, fourth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (22-17, second in the AL West)
Houston; Saturday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Dane Dunning (2-2, 3.78 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 39 strikeouts) Astros: Luis Garcia (0-3, 3.60 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 35 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -183, Rangers +157; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Texas enters the matchup as losers of their last four games.
The Astros are 17-8 against the rest of their division. Houston's team on-base percentage of .326 is third in the MLB. Yuli Gurriel leads the lineup with an OBP of .417.
The Rangers are 5-6 against the rest of their division. Texas has hit 49 home runs this season, sixth in the American League. Adolis Garcia leads them with 10, averaging one every 11.4 at-bats.
The Astros won the last meeting 10-4. Zack Greinke earned his third victory and Martin Maldonado went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs for Houston. Wes Benjamin registered his second loss for Texas.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gurriel leads the Astros with 30 RBIs and is batting .333.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa leads the Rangers with 14 extra base hits and is slugging .459.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 7-3, .295 batting average, 3.66 ERA, outscored opponents by 23 runs
Rangers: 5-5, .251 batting average, 3.87 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Framber Valdez: (finger), Jose Urquidy: (shoulder), Blake Taylor: (ankle), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (right side), Jake Odorizzi: (right pronator muscle), Josh James: (hip), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder).
Rangers: Jose Leclerc: (elbow), Jonathan Hernandez: (elbow), Kyle Cody: (right shoulder), Matt Bush: (elbow), Kohei Arihara: (finger), Brock Holt: (hamstring), Ronald Guzman: (knee), Sam Huff: (hamstring).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
