Houston hosts Chicago after Verlander's strong outing
Chicago White Sox (21-26, third in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (33-16, first in the AL West)
Houston; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: White Sox: Ivan Nova (2-4, 7.42 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 32 strikeouts) Astros: Gerrit Cole (4-4, 3.56 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 93 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Astros are 18-4 on their home turf. Houston has slugged .505, good for first in in the MLB. George Springer leads the club with a .654 slugging percentage, including 27 extra-base hits and 17 home runs.
The White Sox are 10-13 on the road. The Chicago pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 5.08. Reynaldo Lopez leads the team with a 5.14 earned run average. The Astros won the last meeting 5-1. Justin Verlander earned his eighth victory and Yuli Gurriel went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Houston. Dylan Covey registered his third loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Springer leads the Astros with 27 extra base hits and is slugging .654. Alex Bregman is 10-for-39 with a double, four home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.
Jose Abreu leads the White Sox with 11 home runs and is batting .255. Tim Anderson is 11-for-34 with two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 9-1, .297 batting average, 2.23 ERA, outscored opponents by 47 runs
White Sox: 4-6, .222 batting average, 3.93 ERA, outscored by 14 runs
Astros Injuries: Joe Smith: 10-day IL (achilles), Collin McHugh: 10-day IL (right elbow discomfort), Lance McCullers Jr.: 10-day IL (elbow), George Springer: day-to-day (lower back stiffness), Jose Altuve: 10-day IL (hamstring).
White Sox Injuries: Carlos Rodon: 10-day IL (elbow), Michael Kopech: 60-day IL (elbow), Nate Jones: 60-day IL (elbow), Manny Banuelos: 10-day IL (shoulder), Jon Jay: 60-day IL (hip).
