Houston Astros (29-31, second in the AL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (40-20, first in the AL East)
San Diego; Friday, 6:07 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Houston: Framber Valdez (5-3, 3.57 ERA in regular season) Tampa Bay: Blake Snell (4-2, 3.24 ERA in regular season)
LINE: Rays favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 runs
ALCS: Tampa Bay leads the series 3-2
BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay will look to clinch a series win with a victory over Houston in Game 6 of the ALCS.
The Rays were 20-9 in home games in 2020. Tampa Bay has a team batting average of .210 this postseason, Randy Arozarena has led them with an average of .417, including 10 extra base hits and eight RBIs.
The Astros went 9-23 in road games in 2020. Houston has a team slugging percentage of .458 this postseason, Carlos Correa leads them with a mark of .816, including six extra base hits and 14 RBIs.
REGULAR SEASON TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with 37 RBIs and is batting .269.
Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 56 hits and has 42 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 8-2, .233 batting average, 2.72 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs
Astros: 4-6, .235 batting average, 3.96 ERA, outscored by four runs
INJURIES: Rays: Chaz Roe: (elbow), Cody Reed: (finger), Colin Poche: (elbow), Andrew Kittredge: (elbow), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Kevin Kiermaier: (hand).
Astros: Justin Verlander: (forearm), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Brad Peacock: (shoulder), Roberto Osuna: (right elbow), Josh James: (leg), Chris Devenski: (elbow), Rogelio Armenteros: (undisclosed), Bryan Abreu: (undisclosed), Yordan Alvarez: (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
