Astros face off against the Mariners in division matchup
Houston Astros (42-21, first in the AL West) vs. Seattle Mariners (26-39, fifth in the AL West)
Seattle; Thursday, 3 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Justin Verlander (9-2, 2.27 ERA, .74 WHIP, 103 strikeouts) Mariners: Tommy Milone (1-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 19 strikeouts)
LINE: Mariners favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Division rivals Seattle and Houston will play on Thursday at T-Mobile Park.
The Mariners are 14-19 against AL West teams. Seattle's team on-base percentage of .320 is third in the MLB. Daniel Vogelbach leads the lineup with an OBP of .374.
The Astros are 20-13 on the road. Houston has slugged .477, good for second in the American League. Alex Bregman leads the team with a .555 slugging percentage, including 27 extra-base hits and 17 home runs. The Mariners won the last meeting 14-1. Mike Leake earned his fifth victory and Edwin Encarnacion went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Seattle. Brad Peacock took his third loss for Houston.
TOP PERFORMERS: Domingo Santana leads the Mariners with 64 hits and is batting .266. Encarnacion is 8-for-32 with four home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Seattle.
Bregman leads the Astros with 17 home runs and has 43 RBIs. Yuli Gurriel is 9-for-37 with three doubles and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mariners: 3-7, .236 batting average, 6.00 ERA, outscored by 17 runs
Astros: 7-3, .237 batting average, 4.21 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs
Mariners Injuries: Arodys Vizcaino: 60-day IL (shoulder), Sam Tuivailala: 60-day IL (achilles/shoulder), Hunter Strickland: 60-day IL (lat), Connor Sadzeck: 10-day IL (elbow), Felix Hernandez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Chasen Bradford: 10-day IL (forearm), Braden Bishop: day-to-day (neck), Ryon Healy: 10-day IL (back), Dee Gordon: 10-day IL (wrist), J.P. Crawford: 10-day IL (ankle).
Astros Injuries: Joe Smith: 10-day IL (achilles), Collin McHugh: 10-day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 10-day IL (elbow), George Springer: 10-day IL (hamstring), Aledmys Diaz: 10-day IL (hamstring), Carlos Correa: 10-day IL (rib), Jose Altuve: 10-day IL (hamstring), Max Stassi: 10-day IL (knee).
