Houston Astros (35-27, second in the AL West) vs. Minnesota Twins (25-37, fifth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Jose Urquidy (4-3, 3.76 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 47 strikeouts) Twins: Matt Shoemaker (2-7, 7.28 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 34 strikeouts)
LINE: Twins +135, Astros -156; over/under is 10 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota and Houston will meet on Friday.
The Twins are 13-19 on their home turf. Minnesota has hit 88 combined home runs this season, most in the American League. Miguel Sano leads them with 12 homers.
The Astros are 15-14 on the road. Houston leads the American League in hitting with a .271 batting average, Yuli Gurriel leads the club with an average of .335.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 22 extra base hits and is slugging .427.
Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 27 extra base hits and is batting .262.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 4-6, .269 batting average, 6.00 ERA, outscored by 18 runs
Astros: 7-3, .308 batting average, 3.17 ERA, outscored opponents by 28 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Caleb Thielbar: (groin), Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Kenta Maeda: (groin), Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Shaun Anderson: (finger), Rob Refsnyder: (hamstring), Alex Kirilloff: (undisclosed), Max Kepler: (hamstring), Kyle Garlick: (sports hernia), Jake Cave: (back), Byron Buxton: (hip), Luis Arraez: (shoulder), Mitch Garver: (groin).
Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Joe Smith: (undisclosed), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Bryan Abreu: (calf), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Jason Castro: (achilles).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
